Touched by death
by xRaianx
Summary: Death touches everyone differently... but how was I supposed to know that on the tenth anniversary of my father's death I would literually be touched and am now the most wanted human among the demon world;yeah my life was completely turned upside down the day I meant the grim reaper.
1. Hearing things isn't good

**Don't own Inuyasha… cries .o.o.**

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

* * *

><p><strong>Kagome's POV<strong>

Death… what is death? Merely to leave this world for a short time before reincarnation, and yes I believe in rebirth and therefore death has no effect on me… or so I thought. I never thought of death being around me, I was a normal girl who attended school every day, I had normal friends my age and everything was going alright in my life. I had just turned fifteen and was preparing to enter high school when it all started… when I met him.

"Kagome, Souta… come down for breakfast or you will be late for school!" My mother's voice rang through the house like soft twinkle bells as the smell of her cooking filled the air.

"You know in my day kids weren't allowed to sleep in to any time they wished, we had to be up with our parents and helping with the chores… these young people today are just lazy!" Grandpa's voice was like nails on a chalkboard for one's delicate ears in the morning.

"Grandpa, we're not lazy… we just have other things that are more important to do," my kid brother Souta's dulled voice drowned on, we heard grandfather recite the same speech over and over again every morning… I could already picture the boy sitting at the table rolling his eyes.

"What could be more important than helping your family boy!?"

"Grandpa… boys my age want to be baseball players, not shrine keepers."

From my room I could hear gramp's fake gasping breaths and I knew he was clutching at his chest as if he were having a real heart attack. "B-Baseball! Why would you want to dishonor our family in such a way Souta, the shrine has been in the Higurashi family for centuries and not once has it been run without a priest!"

"Oh father stop it, Souta can be whatever he wants to be when he grows up; the shrine will not fall apart if someone outside of the family cares for it." Mom always hated when grandpa tried to force his ideas upon us, she was the peace keeper of our family and she always wished that her children would follow their dreams and not allow someone else to run their lives for them.

"Hana, how could you even suggest such a thing? If we just hired some random stranger, they would run the shrine how they want to and wouldn't even bother with our traditions… I am not as young as I use to be so I wouldn't be able to keep my eye on the man; at least with my own grandson I could rest easier."

"Grandpa."

I could hear the sadness in his voice and I knew it wasn't because Souta didn't wish to follow in his foot steps. It's been ten years since that day… I tore my gaze away from the bathroom mirror and walked out into the hall; I still don't understand why it hurts so much to think about him. I was five years old when my father died, I barely remember him and yet my heart still hurts when I try to bring his face up in my memory.

"Kagome, honey you're going to be late if you don't come down now." Mom's voice called me back from the past; I realized she was correct in that I would be late if I didn't get downstairs now.

"Sis, why do you take so long in the bathroom… what do you do in there?" Souta, the ever annoying little brother smirked over the piece of toast hanging out of his mouth, small beeps and explosions could be heard from the electronic device in his hands.

"Girls always have to look their best for school you little squirt… did you even brush your teeth this morning?" I smirked sticking my tongue out at him from across the table; mom came over to my side and placed an omelet in front of me.

"How could I possibly do that when you hogged the bathroom the whole time!?"

"I did not!"

"Now Kagome… Souta no fighting at the table; you both will get stomach aches," mom stepped over to Souta and took the gaming device out of his hands which he whined about immediately.

"Mom, wait I'm almost at the last level if I stop now I'll be beheaded and have to start all over again!"

"Well you can start over again after school when your homework is complete; but for now finish your breakfast and then go brush your teeth," mom shut down the game but not before I was certain I heard Souta's character dying.

"In my day those little boxes weren't even around and they certainly wouldn't be played at the breakfast table," grandpa mumbled under his breath as he shifted his newspaper… the rest of us didn't acknowledge his remark.

The rest of breakfast was quiet and after I helped mom with the dishes and Souta finished upstairs, we got ready to leave for school.

"Listen kids, I would like you home right after school… we're going to have a family dinner," though mom's words seemed like something one would say everyday… on this day it wasn't; a chill crept down my spine but I quickly brushed it off.

"Of course mom… we'll be home right after school." Souta nodded while grabbing his bag; he knew this was not something he could whine his way out of to go play with his friends.

A smile broke out on her face and she gave us both a hug, "Have a good day at school."

* * *

><p>After we agreed to be home straight after school we left the house and the grounds our family's shrine rested on, descending the large staircase that lead to the street we headed off to our respected schools. Even though Souta was in lower school and I in middle school they were so close together that I would walk him to school much to his displeasure.<p>

"Kagome, you know I'm in third grade now, I'm practically a man, and I really don't need you walking me to school."

"You think I enjoy trailing after you and your little dweeb friends squirt? Trust me I rather not but since you're only in third grade mom wants someone walking with you… would you rather it be her coming with you?" I enjoyed seeing him squirm and I also got him back for the jab at breakfast.

"No, you're better than mom… she makes me hold her hand and I have to give her a kiss on the cheek when we get to the court yard in front of everyone… she still treats me like I'm three."

"See I would never do that so you should be grateful."

"Hey Souta!"

"Hurry up man!"

I looked ahead of us and saw two of his dorky friends waiting at the corner for him. "Kagome, can I go please?" I looked down at my brother and his pleading expression begging me to let him go, I looked up again and observed my surroundings.

At the corner where the boys stood was the crossroads between Souta and my school, if I went right with him and crossed the street I would have to backtrack and cross the other way to get to my school… but if I let him go it would save me a few minutes and he won't be embarrassed; what's an older sister to do?

"Alright just this once I'll let you go but no fooling around and look both ways before crossing the street… hey are you listening to me Souta!?"

The little runt was already running after his friends, "Yeah I got it sis, see you after school!"

I rolled my eyes at his childish antics and of course he didn't listen to a word I said about horse playing while crossing the street; thankfully no crazy third year high school kids were on the road at the moment… I was able to relax when Souta entered the court yard of the school not any more the wiser that I was watching over him the whole time.

'_That boy is going to give me grey hair before I'm twenty I swear.'_

"Kagome! Hey Kagome!"

I looked back toward the entrance of my school and smiled at the girl calling my name. Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri were my three best friends; we met in lower school and have never been apart you would call us the Japanese version of the four musketeers.

Yuka was the sports fanatic of our group, playing everything from softball to being the star of the volleyball team; she was a little on the tough side but bake her any type of chocolate dessert and you are her new best friend.

Eri was the girly girl, she was on the cheerleading squad and a big flirt with the boys; unfortunately she was a little on the snobby side and you couldn't keep one secret without her finding out somehow.

Ayumi was the complete opposition of the other two and I rather preferred her company over them. Honestly I don't know how she became friends with those two, she was extremely smart and got all A's in every class, she was nice to everyone and the peace keeper when Yuka and Eri butted heads over things… which was often.

And how did I fit into this group, well I'm the normal one… average grades, average in gym, the guys seemed to be interested in me but I just wasn't looking for someone at the moment. On that note was another past time for the girls, Yuka and Eri liked to meddle in my personal life; at the beginning of the semester they decided that this boy Hojo in our class liked me and ever since they have been trying to get us to go out.

Don't get me wrong he seems like a sweet boy but all his conversations are so boring and he seems really dull; he isn't my type but I can't just flat out refuse his advances because I don't want to hurt him… I guess I'll have to suffer with him until the end of this year, he's going to a different high school than me… thank kami.

"Kagome, hurry up, first bell is going to ring soon!" Yuka hollered over the mob of other students that were standing there, several turned to look at her and a few more gave her dirty looks which she blatantly ignored.

"Alright sheesh Yuka, I'll be right there," I rolled my eyes again at her eagerness to get to class early; we still had like ten minutes before the bell rang.

There weren't any cars coming so I hurried across the cross walk to where the girls were standing and had every intension of yelling at Yuka for causing a scene, she always liked attention no matter what she was doing, when I heard the strangest thing.

'**He's going to die.'**

I stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of the street. "What?" Was I hearing things, was I losing my mind, I clearly just heard a male's voice say 'he's going to die.' Who? Who is going to die, and why would someone say that and with… such glee in their voice, how could someone be so heartless?

I shook my head at the thought, thinking back to where I was standing, I was at a school where people joked around all the time; this had to be some boy playing a prank on one of his friends… coming to that conclusion I continued over to my friends who were now giving me strange looks.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Ugh Kagome… why did you just stop in the middle of the street like that? You know how crazy the older students drive, you could have gotten killed!" Eri glared with her hands on her hips, Ayumi looked worried and Yuka just looked confused.

"Oh sorry yeah… I guess I got distracted for a second there, with what that boy said it was a little shocking don't you think?" I gave a nervous chuckle when the girls looked at me like I grew a second head.

"What boy?"

"There aren't any guys within ear shot Kagome."

"Are you feeling alright?"

What were they saying, of course there was a boy nearby, there had to be… because I heard him… I heard him. I looked passed where my friends were standing in search of the boy that had to be around; I felt all the color drain from my face when I realized the girls were right. There were only two boys close enough for us to hear anything they could say but the one was talking to a group of girls about the last basketball game he played in and the other was one of our teachers and he was reading a book… neither man would have any reason to say the words I heard.

'_But if it wasn't them… then who was it?'_

* * *

><p>Those thoughts wouldn't leave my mind for the rest of the day and I couldn't focus on any of my work, several times throughout the day I was called out for daydreaming in class causing all the other students to laugh; and at lunch I wasn't surprised that the girls jumped all over me for it.<p>

"Okay what is going on with you today Kagome!? You're acting really weird and so not like yourself… you never daydream in class and I was sure you were going to get sent to the principal's office at least twice!" Eri snapped the minute we reached our usual lunch spot in the court yard. Yuka and Ayumi waited quietly for my response before they voiced their own opinions, though I was certain Yuka was barely holding herself together.

I was just about to defend myself, I don't know why they were so interested in what was going on in my life; I mean unless it concerned boys they never really bothered me.

'**He's going to die.'**

My whole body froze when I heard the voice again; I was determined to find out who was talking and prove that I wasn't just hearing things. I dropped my lunch and jumped up off the grass, scaring the girls, and took off around the side of the building where I could have sworn I heard the voice coming from… I was going to call this boy out of hiding and demand to know what he was talking about.

"Hey you, what do you think… you… are." As I rounded the corner I expected a boy to be leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette, possibly mumbling to himself and smirking when he saw me run over like a crazy person and start yelling at him; but I was extremely shocked when no one was standing there.

'_That's impossible… I know I heard that voice over this way but no one is here.'_

"Kagome! What is going on, you don't just jump up and take off like that… are you out of your mind?" Yuka ran up behind me and screamed; I knew I must have scared them but I had to figure out what was going on.

'**He's going to die.'**

There it was again and this time it was louder like I was standing right on top of the guy… but there was no one there. "Kagome, answer me!"

"Didn't you hear that?" I turned back to the girls while ignoring Yuka's demand, the voice was so loud this time surely they heard it; but I didn't get the confirmation I needed because they all looked confused.

"Hear what Kagome?"

"That boy's voice, just now… didn't you hear it?"

"We didn't hear a boy Kagome, the only person talking was Yuka and you ignored her by the way which is very rude." Eri glared at me but I brushed it off.

"Kagome, are you sure you're okay, if you're hearing voices that's not a good sign." Of course that wasn't a good sign Ayumi, hearing voices could mean only one of two things I was either crazy or I was dying of something… I was kind of hoping for the dying because if I was crazy I would be labeled as a freak and I knew my friends would never talk to me again.

"Kagome, maybe you need to go see the nurse and lay down for a bit… maybe she'll send you home early or something."

"Yeah maybe you're right Ayumi, I think I need to go lay down, I've been a little stressed out lately," I pushed passed the girls and went back over to where we left our things, I grabbed my bag and headed into the building making my way to the nurse's office to lay down.

I don't know why this is happening to me, surely if I was losing my mind there would be other signs before the hearing voices stage right? No I couldn't be crazy, I was a normal girl, this has to be stress related… that's got to be it.

* * *

><p>Luckily after lunch I only had two more classes so when I went to the nurse she let me stay there till last bell; after classes let out I grabbed my things and left, I didn't want to bump into anyone I knew in fear that they would question why I wasn't in class, Hojo was in my last class and surely he would stick around to find out what was wrong with me… I had too much of a headache already to deal with him at this moment.<p>

I was very grateful when I realized practically no one was in the hall when I headed outside… though it was strange since there was a lot of clubs that met up after the day was over, I expected at least a few people to still be in the building.

'_I wonder where everyone is.'_ My question was quickly answered when I stepped outside, there was a large group of people standing out by the street; it was a mix of kids from my school, the lower school, and the high school… something had their attention.

I had no intention of stopping to gawk like the rest of the student body seemed to be doing, I had to find Souta before his friends talked him into going to the video arcade because we had to be home for dinner early, but I spotted Ayumi in the crowd and she waived me over.

'_Shoot! I didn't want to be seen.'_ I couldn't just ignore her invitation, she was the only one in our group that I could stand most of the time and I didn't want to get on her bad side… if she even had one. Seeing what she wanted wouldn't take that long so I headed over and squeezed my way around to where she was standing.

"I can't believe he didn't look."

"It's not that he didn't look, he pushed some little kid out of the way or the car would have hit him." As I made my way through the crowd I could hear a few high school boys talking about what I assumed had happened, and this time I was sure it was actually people around me talking and not just in my head; the two boys that were talking gave me funny looks because I was staring at them for a long time.

"Kagome, there you are… we thought the nurse sent you home early since you weren't in class."

"What happened, why's everyone standing here?" I quickly changed the subject not wanting to be the center of attention again, plus I was really curious as to what was going on.

"Some boy from a different school got hit by a car."

"Eri, how could you say it so casually like that? It's not like he did it on purpose, he saved that little boy's life by pushing him out of the way," I was surprised that Yuka was scolding the other girl over her emotionless response to my question… this was clearly not the time for her rude remarks.

There was a small gap between two teachers that were trying to keep the students back and I could see out into the street; the police and an ambulance were there plus the car, there was also a white sheet that must have been covering the boy up. Seeing the sheet caused something to snap in my mind as a memory of a time long ago with another sheet like that one entered my mind; I didn't know who was under that one and just as fast as it entered my mind it left with me having a worse headache than before.

"Kagome, are you okay… you're not hearing voices again are you?" Ayumi placed her hand on my shoulder to get my attention privately.

"No I'm fine Ayumi, I just have a headache, I need to find my brother and get home anyway… I'll see you tomorrow," I didn't wait for a response as I pushed passed the people to get out of the mob.

There weren't as many students as before since the scene on the street was almost cleaned up like it never happened; it was sad really how death effected people, you mourn for the one that died and then you just sweep it to the back of your mind much like how the street cleaners were sweeping up the shattered glass from the road.

'**Keh right on time… I knew he would die.'**

That voice again, the words were different but it was the same voice as before. _'Why is it that when I think I'm free it pops up again. Look whoever is playing this sick game needs to stop; I want to go back to my normal life if you please… is that too much to ask!'_

I was about ready to pull my hair out in frustration at all this but something about the voice kept me wondering just who is was. Just to sedate my curiosity I did a quick scan of the remaining students on the sidewalk. I was nearly finished and about ready to go find Souta and go home, when something caught my eye to my far left.

The boy was by no means not hard to see, what with the flashy outfit he had on and the bright white wig he had on his head; if he was trying to blend in with the rest of the student population… he was doing a horrible job at it. I mean come on all the other boys were wearing black school uniforms and it was against school rules to have any wild hair styles or colors; so I was guessing the boy didn't go to our school but that begs the questions of just who was he… and why was he here?

I realized I probably looked rather strange standing in the middle of the side walk staring at this guy, I mean for all I know he could be a really big anime fan and was just dressed up as his favorite character. Yeah that made sense and he could have been on his way to some party or a convention when the accident happened and he got caught up in watching like the others did… I fully convinced myself that was the reason and I refused to acknowledge the creepy smirk on his face. With my questions answered I turned to leave only to stop and turn back to the strange man when he opened his mouth.

'**Humans are so predictable… though that specific one I never would have thought would risk his life for someone else; huh… sometimes they'll surprise ya.'**

'_It was him, his voice; he was the person I've been hearing all day… I'm not crazy!'_ I breathed a sigh of relief when I was able to put a face to a voice; seeing him meant I wasn't just hearing things I just possibly couldn't see him earlier when he was talking.

But then I paled again when a chilling thought came to my mind, _'How did he know that boy was going to die hours before it actually happened?'_ I looked to the boy to see he had started to walk down the street away from the school, a rage boiled inside me for a second and it gave me the courage I needed to follow after him; he was going to answer my questions whether he liked it or not, I wasn't going to back down… little did I know this first encounter would be the starting point of a new chapter in my life; after today nothing would be the same.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: Okay so I've started another story, don't worry I'm still working on my other stories seeking the future's next chapter will be up soon it's around 13 pages long and still not complete yet. But this story came to me while I was in my comparing religions class this past monday... my teacher has been making us watch all these death movies, he's a little obsessed and too cheerful about it, I was thinking about a story like this for a while and just decided to start writing it then. I'm thinking about doing this whole story in Kagome's POV, I've done it before with one of my Naruto stories and it works better than 3rd person for me, but we'll have to see if I actually stay with that. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, like with my other stories I'm running a little slow right now because of school and my finales are coming up at the end of this month so I need to work on them. But I will be writing chapters for everything so don't worry they will be up soon!<strong>

**Side note- About Kagome's mother, she was never given a name in either the anime or manga. Word has spread that she was named Kun-loon, but I don't like that name much so I gave her the name Hana which means flower... she always was gentle like a flower so it fits.**

**Side note- With Kagome's friends, I'm keeping Ayumi in character but I'm changing the other two a little, in the anime Yuka is the most agressive with Kagome dating Inuyasha. I'm changing that to Eri in this story... Yuka will still voice her opinion as loud as Eri but she won't be as mean.**

**Side note- I completely forgot to mention something else... the boy who died, how he died was part of another anime/manga and I was to see if you can guess which one, little fun change for you. It won't be mention other than in this chapter so you won't have to worry about him coming back to life and interrupting the story.**

**So tell me what you think!**


	2. The strange man no one can see

**Don't own Inuyasha… cries .o.o.**

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

* * *

><p><strong>Kagome's POV<strong>

"Hey you… wait stop… hey kid stop!" I couldn't believe this, here I was in down town following the weirdly dressed boy, screaming at him to stop walking and he was completely ignoring me! I couldn't believe I was going through all this trouble just to confront him, but there was just something about him that wouldn't let me leave him alone.

"Hey… you know it's really rude to ignore someone that is talking to you… excuse me!" I extended my stride slightly to try and catch up with him, maybe if he saw me face to face and realized I was talking to him he would stop; however, every time I would speed up it seemed that he would as well and I wasn't getting any closer than I originally started out.

'_What is with this guy? I've been trying to get his attention since I left the school grounds… is he deaf or something?'_

Okay this was ridiculous and I was tired of it… no more miss nice Kagome. "Hey you… freak with the weird dog man cosplay… would you stop walking away when someone is trying to talk to you!" I was pretty sure everyone on the street within that block was now staring in our direction, but I didn't care at this point because my outburst got him to stop walking. "Oh so I finally got your attention huh, I've only been asking you to stop for about twenty-five blocks or so… it's really rude to ignore someone for that long."

I folded my arms under my breasts and stuck out my bottom lip to express my displeasure with this strange man… who by the way still has not turned around to acknowledge me yet. I began to tap my foot as I waited to see what he would do but my patience was already too thin.

"Well I'm waiting… or are you just going to continue to ignore me? I know you can hear me so pretending you can't won't work." That time I got a reaction I wasn't expecting, the animatronic dog ears on top of his head began to twitch… almost like a real dog would be listening to something.

"Man you cosplayers go all out don't you… the ears work just fine now stop playing with them and turn around and face me." I saw the ears and the rest of his body tense up and finally he very slowly turned around to face me. With his model like turn I was able to get a better look at him… if I wasn't absolutely certain he was a man by the voice I had been hearing all day I would have guessed the person standing in front of me was a woman.

He was very pretty, the cosplay outfit gave his hard masculine features a soft touch; though as I said before he went a little overboard with his appearance… he even had colored contacts in his eyes. "Wow… just how long does it take you to get into that get-up huh?" I was quickly becoming suspicious of this man, he knew what was going to happen to that kid and now he was looking around the street as if he was searching for someone.

'_Oh great Kagome, just what have you gotten yourself into? You followed this guy and he could be a murderer for all you know!'_

"You… you can see me?"

Um… okay after insulting his crazy outfit for the last ten minutes… that wasn't what I was expected to come out of his mouth, "What?... Of course I can see you, who couldn't with that outfit you've got on… who are you supposed to be anyway?" I wasn't into cartoons but Souta liked watching those ninja shows on Saturday mornings and I know he had a pile of those manga under his bed… so I was aware of his most favorite characters and a cross dressing dog man wasn't one of them.

"You… can see and hear me?"

"Um yeah… I thought we already established that I could do that and yet you still haven't answered me yet why?" Wow this guy was really stuck on himself; I mean right now he looks like he's going to be sick… seriously is it that horrible that I can see him?

"Hey look if you're supposed to be some invisible character or something you might want your money back. But that's not the reason I stopped you, I need to ask you something… hey I'm talking to you!"

"Look around you human… do you notice anything?"

I stepped back at this guy's sudden change in mood, one minute he's freaking out because I can see him and he's acting like it's the end of the world; and then he's completely serious and demanding things of me… just who does this man think he is?

'_Careful Kagome, he could have bipolar issues and try and kill you next.'_ The strange stare he was giving me caused something in my stomach to twist; the dark amber swirled within those unique eyes of his, there was something about them that made me want to listen to his every word.

I turned to observe the patrons on the street, it was then I realized how low the sun was in the sky… mom was going to be upset that I disobeyed her wishes even after I promised I would be home right after school. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind for right now, I would come up with some excuse later, and I focused on what the man asked me.

'_Why are they giving me such weird looks?'_ I was so focused on this man that I hadn't realized the other people that frequently use this street to get home at night had stopped to stare at us; but of course they would stare… it would be an odd sight to see a school girl screaming at a man wearing cosplay on the street. "Yeah they're staring at us so what… I would be too if I were them."

"No you don't understand human, they're staring at you."

"What do you mean they're staring at me? And I do have a name you know… it's Kagome."

"I don't care what your name is, and they're staring at you because they can't see me."

I had to bit my lip or risk laughing in this guy's face at what he just said; did he really think with that costume on no one wouldn't notice him? "You're joking right? Do you see how you're dressed; everyone within a two mile radius can spot you!"

A deep throaty groan slipped passed his lips as he glared angrily at me; he could stay in character very well I'll give him that… but did he really need to attempt to growl at me? "Listen you annoying woman, no human can see me because I am on a different plane than your mortal world; how you can see me I don't know but to them it looks like you're talking, no screaming, at thin air!"

'_What? That's impossible; they can't possibly think I'm crazy right? I mean he's standing right in front of my face surely everyone else can see him… right?'_ I turned back to the crowd of people I now just realized had started to form and looked at their faces… every single one of them was staring directly at me and none were looking at the man.

An older woman, possibly in her late thirties, slowly approached me, "Young lady… are you feeling alright… do you need to go to the hospital?"

'_No I don't need to go to the hospital; what I need is for all you people to see this strange man standing behind me.'_ "No I'm alright ma'am, I've had a long day and am heading home now."

"Boy they are just running you children hard these days with your studies… but stick with it and it will all pay off when you start looking for work." She smiled, patted my shoulder and started to walk away… yeah she must be one of those crazy people that wonder around the city. Though she was creepy I had to thank the woman because her odd statement drew everyone's' attention away from me.

The street started to clear as the people went on their ways and it gave me the opportunity to get back to questioning the strange 'invisible' man. But when I turned back to start my questions again… he was gone.

'_Where… where did he go? He was just here right?'_ His disappearance puzzled me and I needed to find him; I spent at least another half an hour searching the entire block for him. The sun was now setting and I knew I was going to be in a lot of trouble when I got home; so I halted in my search for tonight and headed home… but I vow I will find that guy again if it was the last thing I do.

* * *

><p>I cursed myself as I walked up the stairs to the shrine for following that guy so far into the city; the sun had completely set a few minutes ago and I knew I would be receiving and earful, and possibly a grounding, for not coming home on time.<p>

My mind was racing with premade excuses to tell mom, though I doubted any of them would actually work; I just approached the front door and was readying my speech when I heard my mother's frantic voice inside.

"W-Where are they? They are never out this late and not on this night… Souta can get a little side track but Kagome has never broken a promise to me."

I cringed at mom's statement; yeah sure make me feel worse than I already do. _'Wait… Souta's not home either?'_ I completely forgot about my little brother after I saw the dog guy. I turned and was about to go back down the stairs and towards school to go look for him, when suddenly he came bounding up said stairs.

"Hey Kagome, did you see what happened at school today!?"

"What happened at school? And where were you two, I asked that you come home early and here it's near dark… I was so worried!" With Souta practically shouting as he ran across the stone court yard I wasn't surprised when mom slid the front door open… though I wasn't expecting her to be screaming at us with such fury.

I understand she was angry because we didn't keep to our word but sometimes she was extremely over protective of us because of what happened to…

"Kagome, what happened at school?"

"Mom… this kid got hit by a car!" Souta was so innocent yet completely ignorant over the subject of death in our family.

I watched as mother's face paled and I grabbed her arm to steady her… any second now I knew she would collapse and I wanted her to be sitting before that happened. I guided her by the hand into the sitting room and placed her on the couch just in time for grandpa to come scurrying in.

"What happened to your mother? And where were you two, she made a nice dinner and you both are late!"

"Grandpa, now is not a good time," I moved away from him and entered the kitchen to get a wet rag for mom.

"Grandpa, there was this kid and a car hit him at school today, they took him to the hospital so he should be okay."

As the water ran from the faucet I overheard Souta telling grandpa about what happened today but he was wrong about one thing in his story… the boy died in the street; Souta must not have been present when they put the body in the ambulance which is good because he didn't need to see that.

I pushed this afternoon's events out of my mind for now because I needed to focus on helping my family; I rung out the rag I had wetted and returned to my mother's side. When I returned to the sitting room Souta was already busying himself with his video games, grandpa was reading the last bit of the newspaper, and mom was still pale quietly staring off into space.

"Mom, are you alright?"

"What? Oh Kagome… dear I'm sorry for yelling before, I feel terrible for that boy; do you know what happened?" She took the rag and the cup of water I grabbed from the table as I passed it.

"No I don't momma, the accident happened before I got outside so I didn't see what actually happened; but the boy didn't make it."

"The poor boy, we will need to pray for his spirit to make it into the next cycle; I should probably go heat up dinner, it will be ready shortly." With a little more color to her face mom stood and went into the kitchen; apparently she was over the issue of us being late coming home so I wouldn't bring it up.

With mother clearly still not completely herself I wasn't going to bring up the strange man I followed into the city either; I've come to the conclusion that I probably would never see him again anyway so there was no point in worrying her about it.

Dinner, after it was reheated, was like how it normally went on this day every year with no one talking as we remember what happened on this day many years ago. Souta disappeared after dinner, most likely ran up to his room to do his homework… or play more video games; I helped mom with the dishes while grandpa sat at the table drinking a cup of tea.

"Mom, are you alright?" I watched as she placed the last clean dish away, a sad smile came over her face and I didn't miss the tears she was barely keeping at bay.

"I'm fine sweet heart… don't worry about me."

"Do you want me to come with you tonight? I could-."

"No Kagome, you stay here and do your homework, and watch Souta… your grandfather and I won't be gone long." Mom took my hand and gave it a gentle but reassuring squeeze.

I looked to grandpa and he gave a small nod signaling he would take care of mom for me; I gave her a hug and kissed gramps' cheek before leaving the room and heading upstairs. My heart clenched when I reached the top of the stairs; I could hear mom crying and grandpa trying to calm her down. I stood in the dark hallway and just listened to them talk; mother never cried in front of Souta of me about father but I knew she missed him deeply.

I was five when my father died and Souta was a baby so it was all on my mother to carry that burden of losing dad all on her own. Now that I'm older I want to help her more but she merely smiles and changes the subject which makes me feel like I'm no help to her at all.

'_Stop feeling sorry for yourself Kagome, there are others out there that have it worse than you.'_ With that thought in mind I shook off my depression and headed to my room to start on my work.

"Now I've got to start on the algebra first if not I'll never get it done by Monday." I opened the door to my room and didn't dawn on me that the light was already on. _'I probably should leave history for last since that is my best subject.'_ I approached my desk where my bag was located and began to take out my books.

I was so busy deciding on a strategy on how to complete my work that I didn't notice the other presence in the room; so I was completely surprised when they made themselves known.

"You are one odd human… do you always talk to yourself?"

A shiver ran up my spine when I heard that voice and I turned away from my desk to face my bed where my guest was currently sitting; I felt all the blood drain from my face. "W-What are you doing here!?"

* * *

><p><strong>Note: I really shouldn't be putting this chapter up right now because I should be working on homework, but I couldn't resist. Okay so Kagome is the only person that can see the (strange man) she keeps mentioning, we'll find out in the next chapter why that is. And some may say Kagome's a little OOC in this story, especially in the beginning of this chapter, I'm kind of basing her off of myself and how I would react to a situation she will find herself in during this story... so she won't be such a push over like she was in the anime. Don't get my wrong she is my favorite character but she let other people walk all over her throughout the story and it pissed me off; she was very selfless where here she's going to be acting like how a normal teenager would.<strong>

**Side note- In this chapter you may notice that the man's talking isn't in bold anymore like in the first chapter, the bold will represent him talking in Kagome's mind where while they are talking face to face or with other chapters his speech will be in normal text.**

**Side note- Only one person got the boy who died in the last chapter right. It was Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho... he won't be brought back into the story but I may add different characters from other animes just to see how well you are actually reading this story.**

**Thanks to:  
><strong>Inu'sgirl4ever, Gelafreni, Inuyasha-loves-Hanyou-Kagome, Frankiegirl2020, DemonChild94, and xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx  
><strong>For reviewing... lov'em, keep it up!<strong>


	3. The demon in the room

**Don't own Inuyasha… cries .o.o.**

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

* * *

><p><strong>Kagome's POV<strong>

"Must you scream woman? Is it my fault you were ignorant of my presence though I was sitting completely out in the open; I think not, therefore why must my ears suffer from your shrieking… the correct answer is they don't!" The strange man from this afternoon was casually lying on my bed like it was a normal everyday thing for him.

A million questions were racing through my mind; how did he get into my room? Where did he disappear to this afternoon? I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart down and sort through my thoughts; now that I have him again I wasn't letting him out of my sight until everything was answered to my satisfaction… but first thing is first.

"Why are you still wearing those hideous clothes?" He was still in the cosplay outfit he was in earlier today; he must have been an extreme fan.

"Sis… are you alright? Who are you talking too?" Souta's voice came from behind my close bedroom door; he knew not to come in without my permission and at this moment I was thankful for that.

"I'm alright Souta, and I was talking to…" I paused to look at my guest realizing I didn't even know his name.

A smirk spread across his face, "What are you going to tell him, he can't see or hear me… it will be just like this afternoon with all those people."

This guy was nothing like the one I chased this afternoon; his cocky attitude didn't sit well with me.

"I was talking to myself so don't worry about it… and go finish your homework squirt."

"Don't tell me what to do Kagome!" I could hear him stomp his feet all the way back to his room and slam the door; when I was sure he wouldn't come back I focused back on my unwanted room guest.

"So… explain why you're here and where you disappeared to this afternoon, and how did you find me anyway?"

"Slow down woman, one question at a time; and before you start chewing my head off again like earlier remember that I don't have to be here." The boy sat up from his lying position and placed his feet, which I now just noticed were bare, on the floor and rested his arms on his knees; though the wig's bangs were rather long and shield most of his face because his head was bowed, I could still see his amber gaze glowing at me from within.

But I quickly brushed his look off and squared my shoulders as I faced him head on; there was no way I would be intimated by a man wearing a custom. "Oh really? And just how do you plan on leaving, you can't just walk out the door."

"Well actually I could, seeing as the boy can't see or hear me… but I wasn't planning on leaving that way; there is more than one way of getting into this room." I cursed in my head because I forgot again that for some reason I was the only one who could see him; but then I grew confused by his words.

'_What other way is there to get into my room?'_ He must have been reading my mind because he suddenly jerked his head to the right. I followed his direction and my eyes locked with the only entrance to the outside world that was in my room.

"You came through the window!?" This guy had to be crazy; my room was on the second floor, he scaled the wall with no shoes and yet he didn't have a scratch on him. _'What is he some kind of circus freak?'_

"Kagome, what are you yelling about in there? If you have a guy in your room I'm telling mom!" Souta was outside the door again and I wished he would just go to bed already.

"No Souta, I'm just… reading a book now go back to your room."

"Oh that was very original human, he may be young but he can't be that stupid." I glared at the boy's comment though my brother couldn't hear it anyway.

"Yay right well stop screaming because I can't focus on my game and if I die I have to restart at level one," Souta's voice got softer as he went back down the hall and when I heard his door slam I turned back to my guest who had a look of annoyance on his face.

"Apparently I was wrong, humans are odd creatures."

"Why do you keep say that… it might be hard to believe for you but you are human too no matter how weirdly you're dressed."

I nearly screamed again because one second he was sitting on my bed and the next he was up and in my face. _'Wow, I didn't know he was that fast; must be a star on his school's track team… could explain how he got away this afternoon though.'_

"Let's get one thing straight girl… I am no human." The thickness of his voice I could almost mistake for a growl sent shivers down my spine but nothing scared me more than the way his eyes flashed red for a second; I thought he may have popped a blood vessel but they went right back to white.

"Okay… if you're not a human than what are you?" I decided to humor him; maybe he would give me one of those crazy long star trek explanations that he's from some far off planet or something.

He stepped away from me and walked over to the window now a lot calmer that I accepted he wasn't 'human'; for a second I thought he was going to jump out and I almost ran after him. With what happened to that boy from earlier I had enough people dying for one day; I sighed when he turned back towards me and just leaned against the sill. The moon's pale light cascaded through the open curtain and illuminated his whole being giving him this unearthly glow; which in my opinion worked wonderful with what he said next.

"I'm a demon."

My mind first shut down completely and during its reboot I was bombarded with images of large ugly ogres as tall as houses, attacking villages and eating people. Devilish creatures breathing fire and carrying pitch forks… but nowhere did a red suited boy in a white wig came to mind. "What?" There was no way, there was simply no way this boy was a demon; he had to be pulling my leg or something.

"I am a demon; are you deaf woman?"

I may have been polite earlier today when I didn't laugh at him but this was ridiculous and I just couldn't hold it in; he wasn't too happy when I fell into my desk chair laughing directly in his direction. "You're… you're a… demon! You have got to be joking… you're joking right!?"

"I am not joking woman… and stop laughing!" The rage behind his demand was that of a young child pouting because they didn't get their way and it caused me to laugh so much harder that I began to cry.

After I was able to calm myself down and wipe the tears from my eyes I was able to see that what he said he meant to be serious; I of course still didn't believe a word of it. "You know you don't really look like a demon right?"

He shifted his stance a little and I saw one of his eye brows rise up and disappear into his hair, "Yeah… and just how many demons have you come across in your short life?"

"Well… none but I've seen pictures in the shrine my family runs and none of them look like you; I didn't even think demons really existed." In all the stories grandpa use to tell us about the past I just thought he was crazy; never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would ever see a real live demon.

"Feh, most of those big dumb ones are long gone from either plane."

"You mentioned that before… about another plane and for some reason only I can see you."

The boy moved away from the window and sat back on my bed; I could tell he was in deep thought when his hand came to rest under his chin. His eyes dimmed for a second as if he was remembering something and then they flashed brightly when he raised his head to look at me. "For centuries demons lived in this world doing what we pleased, tormenting humans, burning down their villages… eating them." I didn't particularly like the grin that spread across his face when he mentioned eating people. "But demons are selfish and don't like to share their conquests so many wars broke out between clans and a lot of demons were killed; thankfully it was most of the stupid ones that got killed and the intelligent ones like myself still walk among the world this many years later," his smirk only grew as he praised himself; of which I rolled my eyes because he was being rather cocky again.

"Right you're one of the intelligent ones, so intelligent that you got caught by a human wondering around in my world."

"I told you I'm not in your world; after the wars ended the demon populations were at their lowest, and the humans had gained a great numbers over us. Izanami-sama, of which all demons were created from, feared they would be wiped out completely as revenge for the terror we inflicted upon humans; she created the inner plane. I'm in that plane which is actually part of the outer plane but you humans can't see us walking among you."

"…What?"

The boy stood from my bed and walked over to my desk, spun me around in my chair and snatched a piece of paper and a pencil. "It's too complicated for your simple minded brain to understand so I'll have to show you." He then drew a circle in the center of the paper, "Alright this is the inner plane where those demons that are still alive remain… I'm pretty sure you humans would refer to it as the _yome_ since souls of the dead are there until they are reincarnated into their next life. We can see all you humans do and walk among you yet you can't see us… until you that is," the boy drew another circle around the first, "This is the human plane, where you're all oblivious to our presence."

Something about how he said they could see everything that we do and that we're oblivious didn't sit well with me; did demons really spy on people while they were sleeping… or worse bathing. I immediately clutched my shirt tighter to me and glared at the boy… he could be one of these perverted demons.

"Okay I understand the whole different planes thing but how can I see you?"

The demon stood up straight for a second seemingly in thought, I also happened to notice the ears on top of his head were twitching… I was starting to believe they were real; he then bent down to the paper again and drew two straight parallel lines near the circles. "This is how the two planes' energy normally flows to keep the shield up and preventing you humans from seeing into our plane, with all the demons and souls wondering around it would be a little shocking for those alive; but with you," he went back to the paper and drew two lines again only this time they crossed in between each other, "With you it's like the energy collides and weakens the seal on our plane allowing you to see us… which isn't good." The boy dropped the pencil on the desk and moved back towards the window… and was I mistaken or was there a look of concern on his face for a split second.

"Why isn't it good that I can see you… it's not like I can tell anyone about you anyway so you don't have to worry about being exposed or anything."

He shook his head causing his long silvery mane to ripple like a simmering pond, "It's not exposure I'm worried about because no one will believe you like what happened this afternoon." I frowned as he reminded me of how I made a fool of myself in front of all those people in the city by saying he was there when he knew that they couldn't see him. "There are demons in the inner plane that think of our world as imprisonment and they have been fighting Izanami-sama since the very beginning about returning to this world. She has refused their wish and they have been searching for a way out… you could be that way."

"What?" I couldn't believe what he was saying, not only was I possibly going crazy by seeing things no one else can see but now apparently other demons who were angry at the goddess of the death would be coming after me… and here I thought high school was going to be my biggest challenge. "W-What do I do to get them to stay away?"

"You can't do anything girl because you're a human."

"I can't just do nothing! I can't let demons just escape that world and run around killing people!"

Another growl came from his mouth, "You can't do anything and you won't try because I will stop them."

His words shocked me and yet somehow calmed my racing heart, "Why… why would you do that for me; I mean we barely even know each other and how do I know you aren't one of those demons anyway?"

He turned his head and gave me a playful smirk, "I ain't doing it for you woman so don't think you're special or anything I just happen to like the job I have and don't want that screwed up by this… plus I have a soft spot for you weak humans. I need to go and talk to Izanami-sama to figure out how to keep all this crap from happening and how to fix the planes' energy around you so you don't single handily bring the whole world to hell."

Before I could chew him out for that comment he was gone out the window; I panicked and raced over praying he hadn't injured himself on the long drop down. But like this afternoon when my mind expected to see him on the ground below my window he was completely gone, no sign of him in the whole court yard.

"Ugh! That damn demon when I get my hands on him!" I screamed at the top of my lungs causing several of our neighbors' dogs to start howling and apparently Souta was asleep because I heard a dull thumping on my wall that connected to his room. But I ignored all that around me and instead focused on the boy that had my attention all day; I just had this odd feeling that I would be seeing him again very soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: This chapter is the shortest of the three so far, but I don't intend for them to be very long anyway... I've got enough stories that I'm not paying attention to right now, and I should, that are longer. But basically I wanted to get across a little of what is happening to Kagome, but I didn't want to give too much so early in the story... seeing as she still doesn't know Inuyasha's name yet, we're taking it very slow.<strong>

**Side note- Izanami- goddess of death in the Shinto religion, she will be a secondary character in this story.  
>Side note- Yome- Is like the underworld where the souls of the dead wait be to reincarnated; it's also where the demons live.<strong>

**Thanks to:  
><strong>xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx  
>mangamichelle12<br>Inuyasha-loves-Hanyou-Kagome  
><strong>For reviewing... lov'em, keep it up!<strong>


	4. Izanami's decision

**Don't own Inuyasha… cries .o.o.**

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

* * *

><p><strong>Kagome's POV<strong>

'_I wonder what happened to that boy; he said he would be back and yet-.'_

"Kagome!"

I nearly fell off the bench I was sitting on when Eri practically blew out my ear drum. "What? Kami Eri, did you need to scream I'm sitting right next to you?" These girls were my best friends but sometimes they just annoy the hell out of me.

"Well Kagome, if you weren't in fairytale land you would have heard Yuka talking to you," Eri tapped her chopstick against the table and glared at me; she always demanded order among our group and when I ignored my place in her pecking order she would get angry with me.

I looked across the table to the other two members of our clique and saw Yuka was mad that I was ignoring her; Ayumi, ever the mother hen, looked concerned for me rather than upset.

"First you ignore us on Friday then you say someone was talking to you when there wasn't and now you're daydreaming… what is with you?" Eri was ranting again but I tuned her out instead, hoping Yuka would change the subject off of me.

"What did you say before Yuka?"

"Well I wanted to know if Hojo-kun and you did anything this weekend?"

I cringed seeing the sparkle in all three of their eyes, apparently they thought of us as some dream couple and Hojo was my prince charming… I could laugh at the thought of Hojo dressed up in a tunic and tights. _'I could never see Hojo as prince charming… prince of the medical goods maybe.'_ I always thought it was weird how he would bring me all these different medical remedies when I wasn't sick; the girls thought it was cute, I thought it was just creepy.

I took a sip of my water before answering them; as I enjoyed the cool, refreshing water quenching my thirst I secretly took pleasure in their impatient stares. When I put the bottle down and wiped my mouth with my napkin I was certain Yuka was going to throw a sushi roll at me; though I was having fun with the power I had over them I decided to relieve their tension.

"We didn't do anything this weekend; he called yesterday to see if I wanted to attend some pharmacy convention but I told him I would pass." Truthfully I seriously wanted to know what in his mind made him think that would be the ideal date; and I also didn't want to be too far from home in case that boy came back… of course I forgot at the time that he did follow me home from deep within the city so he probably knew where I lived.

"You what!?"

"Kagome, are you feeling alright?" Yuka and Eri immediately jumped down my throat and drew the whole student bodies' attention that was in the court yard to us.

"What? I didn't want to go… I was polite about it."

Eri smacked her forehead, "Kagome, it doesn't matter what he wants to take you too; rule number one in the relationship handbook… you go as a couple."

'_But we're not a couple… I don't want to be a couple.'_ Thankfully the bell rang signaling lunch to be over and I quickly grabbed my things and headed to class; I could already feel a headache coming on and I still had two more classes before my day would be over.

As I got to class and sat down I put my head on my desk and breathed deeply to try and rid the pressure building behind my eyes. The cold wood did ease the pain but didn't stop my mind from racing again back to Friday night… I just couldn't get that boy out of my mind.

'_He would have contacted me by now wouldn't he, unless… what if he was hurt?'_ I pulled my head up as the teacher walked into the room and when she started class I retrieved my notebook but after that my body was on autopilot as I thought about just what may have happened to the demon.

'_He could have gotten hurt because of me… he could be dead, wait can demons die? Of course they can die, he said a lot of them died in this plane centuries ago so what's to stop him from dying. Maybe one of those evil demons he was talking about got to him; what if they are torturing him for information on me and he won't give it.'_ The heart wrenching images that flashed across my mind brought tears to my eyes which confused me because I barely knew the boy… I didn't even know his name and yet here I was crying for him. I needed to know what has happened to him… I need to know if he's okay.

* * *

><p>I don't remember what happened for the rest of the day; one minute I was in class and the next I was on the side walk on my way home before I realized what was happening. I was so out of it I just realized I crossed two streets without noticing… I could have been hit by a car because of that stupid boy!<p>

'_Alright that's it girl, you have got to stop thinking about that demon, whatever happens to him it's not your fault.'_ My self-encouraging pep talk wasn't making me feel better and I couldn't get him out of my head no matter what I did.

"Hey girl!" And just when I thought I might die right on the street from the guilt squeezing at my heart… I heard that voice.

I turned around to look back down the street expecting to see the demon boy standing there… but there was no one. "Oh no please don't tell me I'm hearing another voice."

"I'm up here woman… do you talk to yourself often?" The voice was coming from above me where I happened to notice a thick tree branch to be hanging over the side walk; and on said branch just happened to be the boy I had been thinking about all weekend.

He was lying casually along the branch like it was a normal thing he did in the afternoon which pissed me off because here I was worried sick about him and he was completely fine. "No I've only recently began conversing with myself ever since I met you!" I crossed my arms and glared as he jumped down to the side walk.

"What's wrong with you woman, why are you angry?"

And his obliviousness only pissed me off more, "I'm not angry!"

"Right… I can practically see the smoke coming out of your ears."

"You jerk! How dare you insult me in such a way!" My fuse finally snapped at his comment and all my frustration and worry that built up since Friday finally came out; I wasn't sure if I could actually hit him, seeing as he was like a ghost in my world, but I certainly was going to try. And I was extremely happy when my hand came in contact with solid flesh as I slapped him across his face.

If I was in my right mind I would have realized I just struck a demon, who could probably kill me in less than a minute, but I wasn't and in my state he should forgive me. When I heard the deep growl from his chest, a lot darker than the ones he gave me last week, I knew he was not in the forgiving mood.

"Human, you da-."

"How could you do that!? You said you would return to tell me what was happening; do you know how worried I was because you didn't come back… I thought you were hurt. I thought those demons you talked about had gotten to you… I thought they had killed you; and now you're here and acting like nothing is wrong!" I didn't care if he was about to rip me limb from limb; and if he was I needed to get all this out first. I however wasn't expecting to burst into tears like I did and practically throw myself into his arms and bang on his chest with my fists; I thought I was a stronger person than that… apparently I was wrong.

Sometime during my childish fallout the boy's growling had died down and I could feel the tension in his body disappear as he took in a deep breath. "Look I don't know why you're acting like this but I never told you I would be back that night." I could feel his strong arms rest on my shoulders and I thought he was going to hold me against his tighter, a blush spread to my cheeks just thinking about it; but I was disappointed when instead he pulled our bodies farther apart.

He pushed me up against the concrete wall on the perimeter of someone's property; the distance between us gave me enough room to look at his odd color irises. "You could have at least warned me of how long you would be gone so I didn't have to worry."

"Well you don't have to get your skirt in a twist because I'm one of the strongest demons alive… not much can hurt." I could swore his head just inflated two sizes bigger and I found it a little hard to believe he was the strongest since I've never seen another demon to be the judge.

He must have seen my uncertain gaze because his shoulders slumped and his ears drooped, "Okay look I don't say this often but… I'm sorry to worry you; I forgot time flows differently here than in the inner plane. There we don't have any reason for time because there are nothing but souls and demons and we have no need for it… apparently a few days have passed here." He looked up at the sun as if he was trying to figure out what time it was from just its position.

"Yes you should have told me about the time thing… but I can forgive you."

"Feh… and?" The accusing look he was giving confused me.

"And what?"

"What do you mean what… don't you have something to say to me?" He swung his arms around the emphasis his point.

"Hm… I can't think of anything," I put my finger to my chin in deep thought as I saw him ball his fists at his side and growl again.

"Y-You need to apologize for slapping me!" He pointed an accusing finger in my direction; his eyes blazing with his anger though it wasn't like how he was after I slapped him so I wasn't worried.

"Oh that's right, sorry about that but I'm sure since you're the strongest demon there is you didn't feel it anyway right?" I gave him my biggest smile and batted my eyelashes hoping he would ignore the assault; he glared and I'm certain I heard him mumble something under his breath but since I couldn't make out the words I just assumed he had forgiven me… so on to more important things.

"So what did this goddess of death have to say about my situation… am I to be expecting demons to be attacking me for the rest of my life or can she snap her fingers and 'poof' it all disappears and I can go back to my normal life?"

"Don't just call her that… Izanami-sama is a far higher being than anything you could even dream of."

'_Okay wow from the way he's praising her I would think he had a crush on this goddess… he's still going.'_ Since he didn't seem to notice I was still there, as how he continued to praise the deity, I decided to turn and continue on my way home.

"And… hey where are you going woman?"

"Well… I plan on going home, have some dinner, do my homework and then take a bath all before I could possibly die in my sleep by some hideously gross demon that wants to take over the world; but you have a great night anyway." I smiled and waived then turned and started walking away again; however, I was halted when I felt a strong hand grip my wrist and tug me back.

"Wait woman, I did speak with Izanami-sama and she wishes to speak with you."

"What? How is that possible, isn't she in that other plane thing and I'm here… wouldn't I have to be dead to talk to her?" I eyed the sharp talons on the end of each finger that held my wrist and cringed at the thought of them tearing through my flesh... seeing them now made me regret that slap I gave him earlier.

"You humans really don't use the brains you're given huh? She's a deity; she can travel between both planes just as easily as you blink; now come on you shouldn't keep her waiting." The demon pulled me in the opposite direction than I was going and crossed the street where the park was located. I was fearful of meeting the goddess of the afterlife but it wasn't like I could fight his steal grip hold and escape… I had no choice but to meet her.

* * *

><p>The sun was now low in the sky as we entered the park; many of the mothers that normally brought their children there after school had already left going home to make dinner for their families. Mom was probably wondering where I was; though she wouldn't be as freaked out as she was on Friday… but I still wouldn't be telling her I followed an invisible demon into the park to meet the goddess of death, that would definitely book me a room in the loony bin.<p>

We were walking for quite some time when I zoned off so when I came back to the present I panicked not realizing where I was. "Hey where are you taking me?" I began to fight him this time but it was futile since he refused to let me go; if I wasn't present when he explained that the two planes energy were lower around me I would have just assumed he were a normal boy dragging me into the woods.

'_Wait that could be what he's doing… he could have lied about meeting the deity and is just taking me into the woods to-.'_ With my thoughts racing I renewed my fighting to get away from him.

"Relax woman, I told you Izanami-sama wants to speak to you… she can't very well just pop in on the street where other humans could see her."

"But wouldn't I be able to see her even if she stayed on your plane… why does she need to come to mine?"

My question was answered when we rounded a thick bush into a clearing that wasn't empty; an older woman with long dark hair and an equally onyx kimono with a long crimson obi that wrapped around her waist and twisted up into the air behind her back forming a half circle around her body. Her skin complexion was extremely pale, and compared to her blood red lips, she looked completely white; just looking at her sent a chill down my spine and yet I wasn't sure if it was fear because she was in all forms death itself or because her beauty frightened me.

"So this is the girl that can see into yome yes?" The smile she gave me wasn't that comforting as she glided, not walked but hovered, over to where I was standing.

"Yes my lady this is the human wench," the demon bowed his head and then took a knee to the ground by my side.

'_My lady, what is with him being so respectful all of a sudden… the two times we've talked he hasn't even bothered to use my name instead he called me… wait did he just call me wench!'_ "What did you just call me!?"

His head shot up and he glared at me, "Hold your tongue and bow to Izanami-sama woman."

"No that's not what you called me; you called me wench; which is extremely rude and I already told you my name is Kagome, Ka-go-me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs so he could get it through his thick skull. I was very pleased when I saw the fear and shock in his eyes at my outburst; it made me feel like I had some control over this whole situation. I completely forgot about the third party that was present with us until a bell tingle like giggle filled the silence around us.

"She is a rather strong human to not fear you Inuyasha," Izanami's unnatural ruby eyes shimmer as her gaze shifted between the demon and me.

"Feh, she's nowhere near strong if you saw her a few minutes ago crying all over me," the boy finally stood from his bent position and towered over both of us.

"I told you why I was upset because you turned my whole life upside last week."

"I turned your life upside down, it ain't my fault you can see into our world where you clearly don't belong!"

My breath caught in my throat at what he said; I don't know why it hurt so much to hear him say that to me. I mean that was what I wanted I didn't want to see them, I didn't want be hunted by demons; and in the back of my mind I had been hoping this goddess would be able to fix everything and let me go back to my life… but with the look he was given me and his words brought tears to my eyes.

'_How could he be so cruel; I know it isn't his fault that this is happening to me but did he have to be so mean about it?'_ I held back my tears but I couldn't be here anymore; just seeing these two other worldly beings in front of me spoke volumes of how I didn't belong. And just by looking in his eyes I could see the hate the boy had for me; I didn't need to hear him tell me how much he seemed to despise me so I ran.

**Inuyasha's POV**

"Hey wait woman where are you going!?" Humans give me such a headache; I have been watching them for centuries and I thought I had them figured out… except this one woman threw everything I thought out the proverbially window.

"What the hell is her problem? One minute we're were yelling at each other and the next she's crying and running off… did I miss something?"

"You have not been around young girls for a very long time Inuyasha; they are very emotional creatures going from one extreme to the next rather quickly… you will need to have patience to understand her." Izanami gazed off in the direction the girl had disappeared to; a small smile was on her face that made me uncomfortable because I usually got hurt when she smiled like that.

"Why would I need to have patience my lady?"

"Because I'm putting you in charge of her safety."

"What!? My lady you must be joking correct… why must I b-babysit the human!?" This was possibly the most horrible joke the deity had played on me yet; and yet for some reason I don't think she is joking this time.

"Do you think I would joke about something so serious Inuyasha? The girl needs protection from those that would want to use her as a portal to the living world; you seemed to have a nice relationship with her-."

"Nice! She just ran off crying for some apparent reason and you think we have a nice relationship?"

"And therefore you will become her protector until whatever role she has to accomplish is played out." Izanami's tone was firm and final and she completely ignored what I said.

"You want me to be a full time babysitter? What about my other responsibilities?"

I watched as she pulled a jeweled necklace from inside her kimono; she touched the black pearl in the center and immediately I felt a shift in the air around us and several white nearly transparent orbs appeared around her, this was usually the signal she had for when she crossed back over to our side.

"There are other demons that are just lying around that can start taking some shifts; Kouga has been slacking off extensively since there are not many humans that live in the mountains anymore… I'm sure I can put him in your quadrant for the time being."

"That many wolf in my domain; with all respect my lady that is not the smartest idea since what happened the last time he was in charge of a city as large as Tokyo." Izanami waived her hand toward me signaling she was finished with this conversation; I could already feel the headache coming on from the mess I would have to clean up because of the wolf.

"It is already decided Inuyasha; you will protect the child and find out how she has come to see into our world and Kouga will look after the city." I chose to ignore the whole Kouga thing since the longer I thought about it the more sickened I became.

"Why must I figure out way she can see us; I thought you had something to do with it Izanami-sama?"

"Oh yes because I am a deity and have nothing to do with my days so I enjoy torturing poor humans that I would pick this girl to give this gift to; and as a result demons from our world that are angry with me will hunt this child down and possibly do harm to her… do I seem that spiteful Inuyasha?"

"Never my lady… but if it wasn't you than wh-."

"I do not know and I have already spoken with Izanagi and he has assured me that neither he nor any of our family has done this." I was skeptical about Izanagi since what happened between the two eons ago; but I knew when to keep my mouth shut and that subject was one of those times.

"Than if it wasn't a kami… what was it?"

"I am not sure, that is why you are to investigate but as of right now it all speaks quite clearly to me." That crazy smile came back to her face and I got scared.

"And what have you concluded my lady?" I was hesitant to ask because I feared somehow it would revolve around me having to do something I wouldn't like in the end… since she was giving her Inuyasha in pain grin.

"It's quite simple Inuyasha… she has been touched by death."

* * *

><p><strong>Note: So we meet the goddes of death for the first time, in my mind her peronality is that of a child but I don't think it came out that way; she'll get crazier as the story goes on. I'm going to get into anymore about her at the moment, but she now has brought Inuyasha and Kagome together... sort of. And for those of you who don't know Izanagi is Izanami's husband... and I think brother but I'm not certain of that.<strong>

**Side note- I passed my hardest class of collage and I if I continue to work hard I will be graduating in mid-December so yay! I will be trying to work on 'Seeking the future' more this week, though I still have homework to do before my last batch of classes that start at the beginning of October, so things will be slow but hopefully not as slow as they have been these past two months with that story... again yay!**

**Thanks to:  
><strong>Inuyasha-loves-Hanyou-Kagome  
>Inu'sgirl4ever<br>Rayne The Hanyou  
>xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx<br>**For reviewing... luv'em, keep it up!**


	5. I've been touched?

**Don't own Inuyasha… cries .o.o.**

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

* * *

><p><strong>Kagome's POV<strong>

_2(a x 2b) = (2a x c)_

"Okay so if two times 'a' times two 'b'… oh who am I kidding I have no clue what I'm doing; I hate algebra!" I slammed my math text book closed with a hateful vengeance; though I'm certain imagining the book bursting into flames wouldn't help my situation any… it was a nice thought.

'_Not only can't I concentrate on my homework but I can't get that boy out of my mind.'_

"Ugh it's so frustrating!" I stood from my desk and moved over to my bed and plopped down; closing my eyes to try and clear my head of all the junk.

'_Why do I care what he said, I don't even know him at all, it shouldn't bother me this much. And the way he was looking at her… wait where did that come from?' _My eyes shot open as that thought stuck in my mind; yes he was oddly respectful to her when he was rude to me but that didn't mean…

"Who am I fooling, it wouldn't take a genius to see that he cares for her… their probably lovers or something." I let a deep sigh escape my lips as my mind wondered again… but it didn't go far from the scene in the woods earlier that evening.

"Ugh… he gives me such a headache!"

"Who wench? Your brother asking questions again that you can't answer without sounding crazy?" I was really hoping I was just hearing things in my head this time; I didn't care if I was going crazy as long as it wasn't who I thought would be there. "You know… you really shouldn't lay on your bed in that position wearing a skirt; if I chose to look I could probably see your-."

"You sick pervert!" I sat up quickly and pulled my skirt down as far as it would go without ripping it and glared at the uninvited guest standing in the window.

"I wasn't actually looking woman… your weak human body does nothing to please me." Again he was hurting me with his words; why he was there when earlier he made it clearly known that I wasn't welcome was beyond my comprehension.

"What are you doing here… shouldn't you be with Izanami-sama?" I didn't mean to sound bitter but I was defensive and tired from how he talked to me earlier.

I saw him furry his brow and move farther into my room without my permission might I add. "What's with you, you're acting weird like earlier and why the hell would I be with her?" He moved over to my desk and began to tinker with my books I left there.

"Oh I don't know maybe because she is your lover or something; why did you drag me there if you wanted to be alone with her anyway?"

"What!? Where did you… Izanami-sama and I are not lovers; don't you know your history, she is married you know and she is devoted to him."

"And judging by your sour expression you're not happy about it."

"You misunderstood girl, I don't want to be her lover, she's a good friend that's it; I'm just pissed because Izanagi treats her like crap and she deserves better." He seemed sincere about what he said but I still had doubts he was being truthful with me about his feelings towards the deity.

"Whatever you say… why are you here?" I jumped off my bed and approached the desk; I slammed the book he was about to open shut, nearly catching his fingers, and snatched them all up putting them into my bag… for some reason just the thought of him touching my stuff after the way he treated me earlier pissed me off.

He didn't seem pleased with my actions either since he glared at my selfish move, not that I cared mind you, and then moved to take up the spot I had just vacated on my bed. "I told you already I brought you to Izanami-sama because we were trying to find out why you can see into our plane."

"Yeah you did a really great job there, screaming at me about how I don't belong in your world; news flash I already knew that so you didn't have to rub it in and make me feel even more like an outsider than I already was!" I cursed myself as I felt tears coming to my eyes again while reliving the feelings I felt earlier while in the park; I turned away from his intense stare not wanting to seem weak in front of him.

While I wiped the tears from my face I heard a deep, frustrated sigh from behind me, "Look woman I'm only going to say this once and you will never hear it again… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that; sometimes my mouth goes off before my brain can process what's happening, I didn't mean to make you feel like an outsider… since I know what that feels like." He bowed his head so I couldn't see he eyes and I saw his puppy ears droop; I didn't know what he meant by feeling like an outsider himself but I thought his depressive mood was due to the guilt he felt over how he treated me.

"I'm not sure how I should take your apology but I'm willing to be the bigger person and let what happened today go."

"Oh how gracious of you."

I chose to ignore his sarcastic statement and the rude eye roll, "And I think we should start over so." I took a step toward him and extended out my hand, "I'm Kagome."

He was silent and just stared at my hand without making any move of his own; for a second I thought he was going to bit me. "Yeah I know who you are, what do you expect me to do with your hand lick it?"

"Well no, you shake it… do you know what a hand shake is?" I kept forgetting that despite how he spoke he was not from this world and might not know our traditions here… I realized then I didn't know much about him either at the moment.

"You humans are really weird." Clearly he missed the whole wanting to start over on a good note and right away went back to insulting me… yeah I could see this going well.

Seeing as I wasn't getting that hand shake I gave up and plopped down on the other end of my bed. "So what did the go-." I paused at the glare he sent me for my disrespectful term. "Izanami-sama say about what is happening… can she fix this?"

I was so hopeful that he would say yes she knew what to do; but that hope died when he averted his gaze from me and he started scratching his head, "Well no she can't, she doesn't know why you have this ability other than the fact that you've been touched by death somehow."

"Touched by death? What did the grim reaper came and touched my shoulder or something… is it like tag and I'm it?"

"Uh… no; what's a grim reaper?" The boy tilted his head to one side and I had to keep myself from laughing when his ear twitched.

"You don't know what a grim reaper is… you know, long black cloak, giant sickle, waiting for people to die to collect their souls and bring them to the afterlife?" After my explanation of the skeletal creature I expected him to simply nod his head that he understood; I wasn't expecting him to jump off the bed and glare at me.

"You think I'm a grim reaper! I don't wear black clothes nor carry a sickle… and what would its purpose be for anyway; it has nothing to do with guiding souls to _yome_."

"Huh?" He lost me completely when he started ranting about his clothes.

"It is my job to bring those that die from this plane to mine; that's why I was there when that boy got hit but the car… so tell me, do I look like this reaper you spoke of?" He got right into my face preventing me from looking anywhere other than into his eyes.

"Um… no?" I was hoping that was the right answer because he was invading my personal bubble space. "Wait that's how you knew he was going to die all day right… the boy. You knew he would die because you were waiting to collect his soul."

"Yes that is exactly what I was doing… how did you know that?" He seemed uncomfortable with me knowing his business so when he took a seat it was in my desk chair rather than back on my bed.

"Because I could hear you all day; you were hanging around my school… thank god I'm not going crazy. So getting back to the touched by death thing… what is that exactly?"

"I'm not sure on the details but Izanami-sama thinks someone in our plane has tried to get in contact with you but wasn't able to complete the process and has lowered our barrier around you." I wasn't surprised when he glared at me; if my face showed any form of how confused I was he would be able to clearly see it. "Humans and their simple minds, look has anyone you've known died recently?"

'_Died recently?'_ My mind immediately flashed to my father; but he died ten years ago so he couldn't mean him. "No… I don't know of anyone," I wasn't lying per say… my father died years ago so I didn't consider that recently.

He obviously didn't believe me since he tilted his head to the side and had a slightly lopsided frown on his lips, "Are you sure… I won't be able to help you if you're not honest woman."

How many times do I have to correct him about my name? And isn't the pot calling the kettle black; I have to be honest with him when he won't even be honest and admit he has a thing for Izanami._ 'No I won't tell him about my father because it isn't any of his business.'_ I know I was being completely unreasonable but I don't care. "I'm sure I don't know anyone that died recently… why do you look scared?"

His eyes, that were the most beautiful amber I'd ever seen, widened for a split second before he glared. "I'm not scared girl I was just thinking; if some human is not trying to reach out to you than it could only be a demon trying to contact you."

"Uh… hello aren't you a demon?"

"I meant other than me… why would I want to get in contact with you? I have no use for a weak human like you." His look of disgust was not needed, I may not be as pretty as his precious Izanami-sama but by human standards I was quite a catch; if Hojo was trying to get my attention all year had any indication.

"Relax I wasn't saying it was you… all I'm saying was before Friday I was a normal girl… and then I started hearing your voice when I got to school." A yawn suddenly escaped, and being the lady I was brought up as I covered my open mouth with my hand. "Well since it looks like we aren't going to have this figured out by tonight I think I should go to bed now since it's really late and I have school tomorrow, not to mention I need to get there early so I can complete my algebra before class; so if you would please leave I would appreciate it."

A devilish smirk came to his face which caused a fang to pop out from under his top lip that made me shiver. "Why should I leave woman? You can't force me and no other human knows I'm here; and besides, other than the tacky wall paper and the horrible smell, I kind of like it here… better than most places I've slept," he leaned back in the chair clearly making no attempt to leave; but what he said caught my attention more than his cockiness did.

"You don't have a home?"

"Huh, I'm a demon woman, even when we lived in your world we stayed in the woods… only humans had permanent residence. But it's not like I need sleep or anything, a light nap between shifts is good enough." He was lying again and this time it was far easier to tell; I could see in his eyes that he didn't want to live in the woods having to move all the time. He wanted a permanent place to stay; some where he could call home.

I stood form my bed and went over to my closet; I could feel his eyes on me while I moved around, "I'll be back in a second so don't go snooping." I grabbed my night clothes and left to change in the bathroom; when I returned I was pleased to note he was in the same spot with that confused look still on his face. "I couldn't grab the extra futon from the closet… besides it would look a little weird having it set up in here with no one laying on it and my family can't see you; they'll think I've gone crazy or something… but you can use this for the night," I handed him a thick blanket to cover himself with; then I got into bed.

"Y-You're letting me stay in your room?" His pitiful question nearly made me tear up.

"Well yeah why not? You said you didn't have a place to stay and since you are protecting me the least I can do is let you stay here… it's not like my family will ever know anyway." I got under the covers and turned the lights off; the moon's glow through the window lit the room like a night light. "Goodnight Inuyasha."

Now I'm not one hundred percent sure and I could have been dreamt this but a few minutes later I thought I heard him mumble 'G'night Kagome' back… but then again it could have been a dream.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: A little dribble in the story... having a little writer's block with this one, but I hope you enjoy!<strong>

**Thanks to:  
><strong>Inuyasha-loves-Hanyou-Kagome  
>xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx<br>DemonChild94  
><strong>For reviewing... lov'em keep it up!<strong>


	6. The new student and hurtful words

**Don't own Inuyasha… cries .o.o.**

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

* * *

><p><strong>Kagome's POV<strong>

"Ugh! How many times do I have to tell you, you don't need to follow me to school!"

"And when will you get it through your head human that I really don't have a choice in the matter… I am your guard and will remain with you until this is figured out and you can't see us anymore or another demon kills you and you're no longer my problem."

"Oh yeah I feel really safe thank you for that." When I woke up this morning I didn't see myself arguing with the demon that slept in my desk chair the previous night.

I actually didn't see him at all when I woke up; the blanket I had placed on him was in ball on the floor and I noticed a few of my dresser draws were open which meant he was snooping. Since nothing was out of place or missing I could over look him searching and quickly got dressed as I was already late for school. But I was not okay nor could I forgive when that jerk came barging into my room when I was in the middle of dressing; he then went on to say I had nothing to be angry about because he wasn't even attracted to me. Apparently I was rather boney and pale compared to demonic women who were tan and big breasted… way to shoot down my self-esteem, like being a teenage girl wasn't hard enough.

After his rude remark he then wondered why I refused to speak to him while I quickly grabbed some toast and left go to school; I was so angry I even let Souta race ahead with his friends when I was supposed to walk him to school… I just wanted to be alone to fume. But I didn't get that peace when Inuyasha began to question my behavior and that's when I snapped at him.

"What do you want?"

"Keh, I don't want anything from you human." Inuyasha folded his hands into the long red sleeves of his haori as he continued to follow after me.

"Look I know you don't want to babysit and I'm not asking you too; I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself," I picked up my pace a little hoping he would just give up and disappear like he did before; but luck wasn't on my side as he continued to follow… my only hope at this point would be to reach school and maybe it would discourage him.

"You may think you're a big girl human, but there are a lot of scary demons out there that would love to have you… and I'm not talking about with helping them to get into your world either." The way he said that caused a chill to run down my spine; I know he was trying to scare me but it would have been more effective it there were actually more demons. Now that I think about it the only ones I've seen from this 'other world' are Inuyasha and the goddess of hell herself… maybe there weren't any others and he was just trying to scare me for his own entertainment.

"Yeah whatever Inuyasha, look just do me a favor and disappear… I'm late for school." I pushed away from him and crossed the street to enter the court yard; I was happy to see that when I turned around to make sure Inuyasha didn't follow me he was nowhere in sight.

"Good maybe he finally got it that I'm mad at him and don't want to see his face for the rest of the day."

"Kagome… may I ask who you're talking too?" I nearly jumped out of my skin hearing the male's voice directly next to me; he was really lucky that he wasn't Inuyasha right now.

"You startled me Hojo… you really shouldn't do that to a girl while she's in thought."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to surprise you; you just seemed a little upset and I wanted to make sure everything was okay." Don't get me wrong Hojo was a very sweet guy, a little dense at some times, but still sweet.

"Thank you for your concern Hojo but I'm fine really," I turned and intended to walk into school but I was stopped when a hand grabbed my wrist.

"Um actually Kagome, that wasn't the only reason why I was here," I could hear the nervousness in his voice and I knew he had a blush covering his cheeks even without turning to face him. "I um… I wanted to ask you if possibly you'd like to go to the movies this weekend."

The desperation in his voice was sad really and I think that's why I wasn't attracted to him; he was a pushover ready to do anything anyone told him too. He wasn't what I was looking for in a boyfriend; I wanted someone who was sure of themselves smart and strong that would be able to defend me if it ever called for it… I was quite certain if Hojo had to defend me in any situation he would most certainly pass out in fear.

Though I really didn't want to go out with him the pitiful expression on his face made it impossible for me to say no; I couldn't crush him in front of everyone in school, I wasn't a mean person and therefore I would have to suffer through another boring date. Thankfully just as I was about to respond the first bell rang and everyone started heading to the door. "Oh Hojo, the bell… we really should get inside before we're late," I pulled my arm from his grasp and quickly slipped into the crowd of students; I wanted to get as far away from him as I could so he wouldn't follow me to my locker waiting for an answer. I was very grateful we were only in one class together and that was at the end of the day; which gave me plenty of time to think of how to let him down easy.

* * *

><p>"You what!? Kagome what has gotten into you; Hojo-kun is the most popular boy in our grade and he's interested in you! You really should let us handle your dating status because at the rate you're going you're going to be an old maid with like twelve cats when you're older!"<p>

"Aren't you being a little over dramatic Yuka… we're not even in high school yet." I don't know what possessed me to tell my friends during homeroom what happened outside; I already knew Yuka would freak out but I didn't think she would go to the extreme of predicting out my future all because I was going to say no to Hojo's invite… if I didn't already have a headache from her screaming I probably would have been banging my head on my desk with how frustrating she was making me.

"It doesn't matter Kagome, most couples are together before high school and their relationship grows stronger as they age; can you imagine you could be engaged to Hojo-kun by the time you're in your third year… you'd be the cutest couple in school!"

"Whoa wait slow down, what? I-I don't want to be engaged to anybody that early!" What was going through Yuka's head right now, when did I ever say I wanted to get married… I could never imagine myself as Hojo's wife; it made me cringe just thinking about it. I could tell she wanted to go into detail but the second bell rang and our teacher walked into the room.

"Class, take your seats I have an announcement to make." Mr. Kobayashi was a short, chubby little middle aged man; he was always crabby for some reason I don't know and he didn't really like kids which always confused me because why was he a teacher. But he seemed rather excited over his news… maybe he was retiring. "We have a new student joining our class today and I want all of you to be respectful… please come in."

The door slide open a second later and every girl in class gasped; I had been looking out the window since sensei entered the room so I missed what the commotion was about. When I turned to the front of the room I could see why the girls were squealing in their seats; the new student, a male, was rather attractive… but he seemed to be like every other guy in school so I didn't see what the big deal was. He wore the same black boy's uniform as the others, his dark hair was longer than even mine and pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his neck; his bangs were rather long too and framed his face nicely drawing you to his oddly colored gray eyes… and was he starting at me! Once I realized he was looking at me I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and he must have saw that too because he smirked.

'_Oh what do they see in him… he's just some jerk faking that he's a nice boy; I can't believe anyone would fall for that.'_ I pushed down my embarrassment and shot him a glare to get the point across that I wasn't falling for his tricks.

"Class this is Kaneko Tatsuo, please introduce yourself," Kobayashi-sensei motioned for him to speak but I didn't really care what he had to say so I went back to looking out the window.

"Hello… I am Kaneko Tatsuo, my family just moved into the city and I look forward to getting to know everyone during this year." Out of the corner of my eye I saw the boy bow respectfully toward the class; but his silvery eyes never left my direction. A few girls cooed over how cute he was and it was making me sick; and apparently sensei was annoyed too because he glared and then cleared his throat.

"Yes well we should have you sit so I can began today's lesson… there's a desk open behind Higurashi; Higurashi raise your hand please and you will be Kaneko-san's guide around the school as well."

'_Oh damn why does he have to sit near me!'_ I completely forgot that the desk behind me as empty and of course the new jerk would get to sit there; despite my displeasure I raised my hand and I swear his smirk got bigger as he approached me.

"Yes very good Higurashi, you will also help Kaneko around the building today so he will know where everything is yes so we're moving on now," Kobayashi didn't even let me protest his decision as he turned towards the board and began his lesson.

'_Oh you have got to be kidding me; I don't want to be anywhere near him!' _This was just not my day, I got one person to stop following me and now I have another… and I wasn't the only one that wasn't happy with this arrangement; looking around the room I noticed a lot of the girls were glaring at me.

"Why does she get to show him around?"

"First she's got Hojo-kun wrapped around her finger and now the cute new boy is in her care." The whispers were getting on my nerves and why were they mad at me; I didn't ask Hojo to like me and I wanted no part of this Kaneko guy… if I could I would gladly give this job over to one of them. I tried to ignore their talking and focus on sensei's lesson; but I couldn't brush off the feeling I was being watched. I heard something moving behind me and a chair slide back and I guessed the new kid was fishing out a book from his bag; I nearly screamed however when I felt someone breathing on the back of my neck.

"Yes Kagome… I do hope you will take good care of me," the smooth voice that tickled the small hairs on the back of my neck and the joy in his words made my skin crawl; but that wasn't what scared me the most.

'_How… how does he know my name… no one ever said it since he's been in the room,'_ I sat up straight in my chair to get as far away from him as possible without standing up and causing a scene; slowly I turned to face my new classmate determined to get to the bottom of this.

Tatsuo was still leaning forward on his desk towards me with that smirk on his face; then suddenly in the blink of an eye his own eyes changed colors. The gray/silvery pools melted into amber fire and two fangs peaked out from under his top lip; those two features were all I needed to know how this guy knew my name.

'_Inuyasha!'_

* * *

><p>It was official my day couldn't get any worse; I thought at school I would have a place where he couldn't bother me but now he's here and something didn't add up… for the rest of the morning I tried to figure out the puzzle but I figured he would just have to explain. After class when everyone was heading outside for lunch I dragged 'Tatsuo' to the roof where no one would be to have a private conversation; the minute the door closed I turned on him.<p>

"What the heck are you doing here; I told you to disappear and I meant it. And what is this, how can you be seen for as long as I've known you you've been invisible to everyone else!"

Inuyasha casually leaned against the door of the building a smile on his face because he just loved upsetting me. "Neat trick huh human? This is why I disappeared earlier; Izanami-sama graciously gave me this gift… think of it like a human skin basically, I can move about in your world without questions."

"Wait, wait, wait… human skin… as in that was a person at one time?" I took a step back from him feeling my breakfast coming back up my throat just thinking about it.

"Yeah its rotten human flesh… you are really stupid sometimes woman."

Okay the rude remark was not needed and it gave me the strength to push down my queasiness and bring up the urge to slap him again, "Well you should be more specific you jerk!"

Inuyasha pushed off the door and quickly approached me, "Look this is my body, I hate humans why would you think I would want to put a human suit on and be one?" He unbuttoned the top button of the uniform and then pulled out a necklace made up of purple beads and what looked like some sort of animal teeth. "This is what allows me to both be seen by you humans and hide the fact that I am a demon."

"Oh… well-."

"Besides now I can observe you humans up close; apparently the female classmates you have are quite interested in my human form."

"Oh please it's just because you're a new student… give it a few weeks and you'll be old news; they won't even remember your name."

"Well then if that is the case I guess I should work quickly."

I had been making my way towards the door intending to go down and get lunch but I stopped when hearing his comment, "What? What are you talking about, act quickly for what?"

"Well from the years that I have been observing you weak beings I've noticed young males tend to sleep with a lot of different females so now that I am somewhat human I figure what the hell."

"WHAT!? You… you spent twenty minutes this morning telling me how you could never be attracted to me because I'm boney and pale and my breasts are small and demonic women were so much better so why waste your time on a human; and now all of a sudden you're interested in human women!" He did not just say that, he was really asking to get slapped demon or not.

Inuyasha turned around to face me, his hair flowing gracefully about him as the wind picked it up; he would make a really great human… if only he didn't have that stupid smirk on his face. "Need I remind you about this morning, I didn't say all human women were unattractive and a waste of my time… only you; there are several rather pleasing looking females in your class that I would waste my time getting to know."

'_He thinks I'm ugly?'_ His words hurt, this wasn't teasing like before; I took a deep breath to push my tears away. "Well then… I hope you have a lot of fun with my classmates that you find beautiful; but do me one last favor and don't tell me about your conquests… better yet don't talk to me at all unless you've found some way to make me stop seeing demons." I didn't wait for his response since it would probably be a rude one towards me and so I left the roof and slammed the door; it may not have hit him in the face but it made me feel slightly better.

* * *

><p>I was marching down the stairs so fast, and right at that moment I didn't care if I was making a lot of noise and everyone was starting at me, that I nearly bumped into a boy while heading back to class; I was not only upset by Inuyasha's words but also missed lunch and I was rather hungry.<p>

"Oh Kagome, I was wondering where you were at lunch… did you eat up on the roof, it is rather nice out."

"What? Oh Hojo, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention; um yes I was on the roof but just to think."

"Oh… were you thinking about this weekend, did you decide about accompanying me to the movies?" I completely forgot about his invitation that morning and I as now about to turn him down; but then I remembered Inuyasha's words on the roof and the pain it caused me. He thought I was unattractive but here was this boy and he likes me; he thinks I'm special otherwise he wouldn't want to go out with me… so who cares what that jerk thinks, he's the one that isn't special.

"Um… Kagome?"

I didn't realize I had zoned off in the middle of the hallway; Hojo was still waiting for my answer. "Yes Hojo… I would love to go to the movies with you."

* * *

><p><strong>Note: I found my muse again for this story so yay! This chapter was still fluff... well mean fluff since Inuyasha was really mean again to Kagome; but on the bright side she did except Hojo's invitation... so little yay. The first demon (other than Inuyasha) will be showing up in the next chapter, and I bet no one will guess who she is.<strong>

**Thanks to:  
><strong>Inuyasha-loves-Hanyou-Kagome  
>ohemgee123<br>**For reviewing... keep it up!**


	7. Hair

**Don't own Inuyasha… cries .o.o.**

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

* * *

><p><strong>Kagome's POV<strong>

"Pissst…. Pist, hey woman!"

'_He's been doing that for over an hour I'm surprised he hasn't thrown a paper ball at my head yet.'_

"Pisst, woman answer me!"

'_Can't he see I'm ignoring him or did he completely forget what I told him on the roof?'_ I went back to taking the notes Kobayashi-sensei was writing on the board while I waited for the jerk off's, sitting behind me, head to explode; he's been trying to get my attention since we came back into class and I am sticking to my vow not to talk to him… which is having a positive effect since he's so frustrated now.

"Damn-it Kagome turn around and answer me!"

"Mr. Kaneko!"

"What!?"

I heard the chair behind me scrape the tile floor and the desk itself bumped into the back of my chair; this got me curious as to what the demon in the human disguise was doing back there. I turned slightly as to not draw his attention but that was clearly taken up by the teacher who was quite peeved at his outburst already. It is very disrespectful to yell at one's teacher as Inuyasha did, though I doubt he cared any because he has no manners to speak of anyway.

"Mr. Kaneko, we do not shout in class and curse at fellow classmates, now since you're a new student I will overlook it this time; now sit back down in your seat," Kobayashi was about to turn back to the board but Inuyasha had to have the last word.

"I will sit down only after this woman answers me!" I felt a small gust of wind hit my head and knew he must be gesturing in my direction.

I then looked back towards my classmates and wasn't surprised to see them all staring at us; the boys were giving Inuyasha strange looks and the girls were sending me hateful glares because the new boy's attention was solely on me… which I didn't want.

"Mr. Kaneko, you will be respectful to your classmates as well; if you need to speak to Ms. Higurashi then you may do so after class. Now if you do not sit down I will put you in detention!"

'_Oh please do… please put in him in detention so I don't have to deal with him for a few hours.'_ But no such luck because Inuyasha picked up his chair and sat down, the silvery eyes of his human form glowed with hatred.

Everyone went back to taking notes and the minutes Kobayashi turned back to the board I felt someone leaning over my shoulder. "You know these humans cannot stop me and I will get you to talk to me… Kagome."

'_Yeah you now using my name rather than human, woman, or wench won't make up for what you said earlier you jerk.'_

His threat didn't scare me as I continued with my day; Hojo was all smiles when I saw him in my last class I really made his day by saying yes. But I have to be honest now hours later and a clearer head I wasn't looking forward to this date; I was flattered that he liked me, but I needed to find a guy I both liked and would treat me with the respect I deserved… not like a certain demon.

"Kagome, I was wondering what type of movie you would like to see?" Hojo took up the seat next to me causing a wave of whispers to flow about the room.

"Look at her, first the new boy and now she's flirting with Hojo-kun too."

"She just wants to have all the attention on herself; did you see how angry Tatsuo-kun was when she was ignoring him earlier he nearly got detention because of her!"

"Kagome… did you hear me? If you're busy I could call you later tonight and we can pick a movie." Hojo didn't even hear those girls words, or he was just ignoring them; and if he could so could I.

"Um… yes I think that would be best Hojo since I haven't actually been to the movies in quite a while… I don't know what is playing at the moment."

A spark lite up in his eyes and I'm pretty sure the smile on his face just got wider," Oh of course how silly of me to just assume… well may I still sit here during class?"

I was surprised by his request, normally he sat in the front of the room; but though I knew I would have a headache by the end of class with all the questions I knew he wanted to ask I simply nodded my head for his permission… no one sat next to me anyway so I didn't mind.

"Hey woman, what the hell is this?" He just wasn't going to give up, even after getting yelled at Inuyasha was trying to get me to talk to him.

"Um… excuse me but who are you talking too? If you are addressing Kagome you are doing so incorrectly; and to use that term towards any young woman is quite rude." I did not warn Hojo about Inuyasha and now he was trying to be the gentlemen and defend my honor… if he knew the boy standing a few feet away was actually a demon I'm sure he would have fainted by now.

"Buzz off boy, just who do you think you are talking to me like that… and I can call the wench anything I want," Inuyasha glared, folding his arms over his chest like he was better than everyone else… though in his mind he was. And just like earlier in the day he was causing a scene; everyone was staring in our direction… this couldn't get any worse.

And of course I thought too soon because Hojo just stood up from his seat a frown on his face that wasn't anywhere near as scary as the demon's he was facing up against. "I will not allow you to disrespect Kagome in such manner."

"Hojo-kun, please don't, he's not worth you getting into trouble for fighting."

"Fighting… you think this kid can beat me wench… have you forgotten who I am?" Inuyasha looked passed Hojo's form to stare right at me; but I wasn't in the mood to deal with his mood swings right now.

Hojo was shocked I wouldn't allow him to defend my honor when in reality I was protecting him from getting killed. "Kagome… why would you defend him when he called you-."

"Hojo-kun, it's not that big of a deal really… In-Tatsuo-san is an old family friend; he's called me those names since we were children so it doesn't bother me now." Okay so a little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone; hopefully Inuyasha would go with it and judging by the smirk on his face I'm pretty sure he would be rubbing this in Hojo's face for a while.

* * *

><p>Thankfully before either boy could speak the teacher walked into the room; Inuyasha however banished Hojo from the empty seat next to me and claimed it for his own… which of course meant he was bugging me the entire time to talk to him; I am a very stubborn girl though and didn't even look in his direction.<p>

The bell rang to end class and I dashed out of my sit to race to my locker; I had no intentions of either Hojo or Inuyasha stopping me in the hall to try and talk again… I was already starting to get a headache as it was.

I breezed past the girls ignoring their calls, they undoubtly heard the rumor that Inuyasha and I dated at some point that was being spread around the school… they may have heard I accepted Hojo's date too; but I just didn't want to deal with them right now, I wanted to get home and have a hot bath and take a nap before mom had dinner ready.

"Woman!"

'_Damn what does he have me low-jacked or something?' _Just hearing Inuyasha's voice caused me to walk faster; I didn't care where he popped out at just that I could get away from him.

"Wench stop walking away… you can't out run me."

I continued to ignore him as I reached the staircase leading to the shrine; he appeared next to me as I made my way up to the court yard, I was slightly taken back to see he was still in his human form… I would have thought he would have shed that the minute he left the school grounds.

As I reached the top step I nearly screamed when I felt him grip my wrist and pull me back; I thought he was trying to kill my by knocking me down the stairs but then I realized he only tugged on my arm to stop my advancement to the house. The scare in general was the icing on the cake though and I could no longer stay quiet and blew my top.

"What is wrong with you!? Is it your enjoyment to scare a girl to death; can't you take a hint!?"

"Kagome."

"I mean did you completely forget what I told you this afternoon on the roof?"

"Kagome."

"Obviously not since you have been harassing me all day and now you go and try to kill me by knocking me down the-."

"Kagome will you shut the hell up!"

I stepped back at his outburst, he wanted me to talk to him all afternoon but yet now that I was giving him the attention he wanted he was telling me to be quiet… there's just no pleasing him. "First you wouldn't leave me alone because I wasn't talking to you and now you're- mph!"

Inuyasha was suddenly behind me with his hand covering my mouth; stopping me from talking. "Be quiet and look around… what do you see?" His presence behind me was unsettling and when he spoke his breathy words tickled my neck and caused me to shiver.

'_What do I see? Is he out of his mind… I see a dog demon that has gone crazy and I need to get away from him.'_ I turned my head slightly to give him my answer but the look on his face told me to keep my mouth shut and truly do what he asked of me. I turned back to the court yard only this time I didn't just see the shrine and my house; Inuyasha must have realized I finally noticed what he did because he released his grip on me.

"Hair… Inuyasha is that hair covering the shrine; where did it come from?" I couldn't believe my eyes; thick bands of black hair were tossed about the grounds covering both the shrine and tangled in the tree branches. I wasn't sure if there was anything blasphemous in defacing a sacred shrine with hair but I knew one thing for sure… grandpa sure wasn't going to be happy about this.

"It's a demon… most likely setting a trap to capture you; I didn't think she would be the first to come."

'_She? He knows who did this… and why do I get the feeling they were more than acquaintances in the other world.'_

Inuyasha walked over to the nearest tree and grabbed up a bit of the hair, "Well let's get this over with," he then tugged hard on the strains; within a few seconds I heard rapid snapping as the flowing locks separated in two.

"What do you think you're doing boy; you've touched my precious hair and have caused the ends to split," a raspy voice of what sounded like a woman came from above us.

As I looked up into the tree tops I tried to pinpoint where it came from; it was then I noticed a large section of hair had begun to move. Slowly it descended from the sky and when it was a few feet from the stone walkway it began to unravel revealing a scarcely dressed woman… if she were to bend in any direction I would be seeing certain parts of her body I'd rather not.

"Well you haven't changed much have you… did you ever find the rest of your clothes or have they gone forever," the over confidence in Inuyasha's voice didn't put my worries to rest, though my earlier theory of him knowing her was confirmed. Never taking his eyes off the demon, Inuyasha moved back over to my side standing in front of me keeping himself between us… almost like he was trying to protect me.

I leaned forward and placed my hand on his back to get his attention, I didn't want the other demon to hear what I was staying, "Inuyasha, who is she."

"Well we might as well get the formalities out of the way first so… Yura this is Kagome, the annoying human; and wench… this is Yura of the Demon Hair."

* * *

><p><strong>Note: Okay seven chapters in and we have our first major demon... Yura has made her appearance and it seems that Inuyasha knows her on a personal basis; will he protect Kagome or side with his fellow demon?<strong>

**Thanks to:  
><strong>corincat331  
>Inuyasha-loves-Hanyou-Kagome<br>ohemgee123  
>xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx<br>**For reviewing... luv'em, keep it up!**


	8. The red skull

**Don't own Inuyasha… cries .o.o.**

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

* * *

><p><strong>Kagome's POV<strong>

This girl named Yura blinked several times and titled her head left then right apparently sizing Inuyasha up; and judging by the look stretching across her face told me that she didn't recognize him.

"How dare you disgusting human even think to utter my name; how would one such as yourself even know a powerful demon like me?" Yura ruffled her bobbed haircut and then ran her hand down her neck into her cleavage in what I can only assume was supposed to be seductive… kind of gross in my opinion with the way she was dressed to begin with.

"Inu-," I was interrupted when Inuyasha raised his hand to silence me; I was about to snap at him for shushing me but he spoke up instead.

"Let her figure out who I am woman, don't give her any help."

It was obvious he knew this woman in some way that my mind was telling me I didn't want to ask, and I didn't have time to let this game of cat and mouse play out; my family would be home any minute now and my grandfather would freak out seeing all this hair all over the shrine. "Look I don't care who she is but she's got to leave now and take all her hair with her," I stepped around Inuyasha to stare at this woman head on; I wasn't afraid of her by any means… what's the worst she can do?

Yura suddenly clutched her sides and released a raspy, cackling laugh that irritated me; I didn't see anything funny nor did I like being laughed at, "Human boy I suggest you get a handle on your woman or I shall have to do it for you," Yura quickly stopped laughing and suddenly jerked her hand back.

"I'm not his wo-ah!" I was in min sentence defending myself, how could she even think Inuyasha and I were a couple, when I was hit from behind and crashed to the ground; and judging by the heavy breathing and silent cursing behind me that Inuyasha was the one that dragged me to the ground. "What are you doing!? Get off me!"

"Stop fighting me woman and keep your head down or it will get cut off!" Inuyasha's growling command both angered me and sent chills down my spine since he was so close to my ear… but it angered me more.

"What are you talking about?" I was able to wrestle enough of Inuyasha off me that I could lift my head to see a very angry demoness who was now holding a small sword. "Where did she get that from?"

"Don't worry about where she got it from just don't let it out of your sight; it's sharper than it looks," Inuyasha stood to a low crouch and let me up but didn't allow me to fully stand… was he really that worried about a simple blade?

"You stupid boy, you made me miss, do you know how hard it is to get a clean cut? Not that her hair is anything special, what with all those split ends, but I'm sure I can find some use for it," Yura pulled her sword close to inspect the sharp edge, a smile came to her lips and her tongue darted out to lick the blade.

"What is she insane!?" I couldn't believe what I just witnessed, I was so shocked that the rage I had building for her saying my hair had split ends completely left me. I watched as a small amount of blood slipped passed the demon's dark red lips and I thought she cut herself on the blade, which I thought she deserved for licking the weapon in the first place; but then I realized the sword also had blood on it and obviously with the smile on her face it wasn't hers… but if it wasn't hers then where did it come from?

"Demons do things that you humans wouldn't understand, and she's actually one of the more normal ones."

I turned to look at Inuyasha because I couldn't believe he was defending her; but the words I was going to say stopped when I saw that he was holding his right arm, blood was seeping through his fingers and soaking his uniform. "Inuyasha, what happened?"

"I told you that the blade was sharp, but this is nothing compared to other wounds I've gotten." Seeing that Yura wasn't swinging the sword again Inuyasha stood up and finally allowed me to do the same.

"How is that possible? It just can't be, you are nothing but a human and yet I'd recognize this sweet tasting blood anywhere… how are you a human Inuyasha explain yourself!" Yura glared and pointed her weapon at us in a demanding manner.

I heard Inuyasha curse next to me when the hair demon confronted him, "Damn, I guess I don't have a choice now." He dug into the front of his uniform and pulled out the purple beads that disguised him as a human, clutching the beads tightly I felt a soft pulse brush against me for a second just as the necklace began to glow; when the light dimmed the illusion around Inuyasha faded to reveal the silver haired, dog eared demon I was used to seeing… then all hell broke loose.

Apparently Yura already had a trap set up for us before we arrived on the grounds; after Inuyasha revealed himself she simply flicked her wrist and the loose strands of hair that were laying everywhere came to life. They attacked both Inuyasha and me wrapping around our wrists, ankles and waist and lifted us into the air; I of course screamed not expecting to be picked up but thin strains of hair but I was drown out by a growl that left Inuyasha. I watched as he struggled to get free from the hair but it seemed to be no use, then Yura descended from the sky on nothing but a thread or hair to stand right in front of him.

"Huh, I can't believe you of all demons are here Inuyasha. If I remember correctly not a few centuries ago you sided with us in wanting to get out of this prison… what change?" Yura's words shocked me, in the weeks I've known him never did I think Inuyasha would… no wait I can't say that; I did think he was evil when we first met but for her to confirm what I thought didn't sit well with me.

"Keh… nothing changed Yura, I just got tired of fighting a losing battle. Izanami-sama is too powerful to try and over throw and I'd rather not be punished." Inuyasha's growl deepened when the demoness grabbed his jaw and forced him to look at her.

"You're scared? Never have I thought you would scare so easily, what they say is true then… you have become her lap dog," Yura suddenly slapped his cheek causing Inuyasha to snap at her.

"I'm not no one's lap dog!"

"You say that and yet here you are protecting the key that will let us back into the human world. Tell me Inuyasha, what is stopping you from shedding her blood and setting us all free?" Yura moved close to Inuyasha's exposed neck and if she was doing what I thought she was I was definitely going to be sick. "Prove yourself that you are still a loyal demon Inuyasha, kill her now and you will be a hero again among us… and you and I can lead our comrades into ruling both worlds."

My stomach plummeted when I saw his golden pools flash crimson and I thought he would suddenly change sides and do what Yura suggested; apparently she thought he changed sides too because she let her guard down and loosen the hair keeping us trapped… and that's when Inuyasha struck. Faster than my eyes could catch Inuyasha's clawed hand was protruding through Yura's chest.

"Oh that is so gross," yes now I was going to be sick.

* * *

><p>You know in those horror movies where when the good guy stabs the bad one, and the bad one coughs up blood and has a dramatic death scene… yeah well that didn't happened here.<p>

Even with Inuyasha's hand still sticking out of her chest Yura simply growled, "So you've chosen the side that will lose, it's quite a shame really… I will miss you in bed." As the demoness said this she jabbed her sword into Inuyasha's own chest.

"Inuyasha!" Though he has been a pain since I've met him, and we get into a lot of fights, he was still protecting me from crazy demons and so I didn't really want him to die because of me.

As it happened when Yura attacked him she must have lost focus on the hair holding me because I felt the strains that were biting into my wrists suddenly loosened and then finally give way causing me to fall to the cobble stone pathway. "Ouch!" After hitting the walkway on my butt, which I knew I was going to have a bruise tomorrow, I began looking around for something to distract the demon and maybe get Inuyasha free.

I couldn't find much since everything was covered in hair, I could barely recognize the sheds that held all the artifacts that gramps thought were sacred when in reality it was probably all junk… but that was for another time. No getting back to finding something to help Inuyasha was my main focus; scanning the grounds I happened to see a few sharp rocks but that was about it, I needed to get into the shed with the weapons and maybe that would stop her. So ignoring the pain in my butt I got up and headed for the sheds, I nearly tripped on several clumps of hair but managed to make it over to a shed without getting trapped again; behind me I could hear Inuyasha growling, he must be fighting with Yura, and it drove me to farther try and help him. Despite being grossed out by all the hair, who knows where or whose it was, I dug into the mess trying to find the door to the shed to open it praying it was the right one with a weapon inside.

"Ah! What are you doing you stupid girl!? Don't touch my beautiful hair, you'll get it all tangled!" Yura's scream caused me to turn and I was surprised to see her charging at me in a hellish rage.

I braced myself for her attack, that would probably kill me, but after a few minutes of nothing I opened my eyes to see what happened to her. I didn't see much though other than Inuyasha's bright red outfit in my face since he was standing between Yura and myself; said demoness had jumped back into a tree to prevent the dog demon from striking her.

"Stay away from her; I'm your opponent Yura!" Inuyasha's growl was deeper than any other I had heard today and the way he ordered Yura to stay away from me sent chills down my spine… and it wasn't in a bad way. His growl then turned into a stiff grunt as I saw the sword that Yura stabbed him with disappear from his back.

"Inuyasha what are you doing!? Don't pull it out or you'll lose more blood and die… don't you know anything about fatal wounds!?" I couldn't believe he just did that, the dark patch on his haori was quickly getting bigger as more blood came out of the wound; he needed a doctor right now not dealing with a crazy hair demon that wanted to kill me.

"Keh, this is nothing I've had a lot worse. Listen to me woman; you need to leave now because I can't fight to my full ability with you here."

"Yeah right like I'm leaving you here with that crazy woman; you can't fight her alone Inuyasha," was he seriously asking me to abandoned him while he was injured; well that wasn't happening because I wasn't a coward.

"Hey! Listen to me Kagome," this time Inuyasha turned to face me when before he refused to lose sight of Yura; apparently whatever he was going to say was really important. "You need to leave and it's not up for debate… I was assigned to protect you and I'm not going to fail when the first demon attacks." Inuyasha moved away, after ordering me to leave, going back to his fight with Yura.

"So that's what this is… I'm nothing but a job to him," those feelings from before I had were now gone. It was clear he was only protective of me because Izanami ordered him to be so. "Jerk… he's not anything but a jerk and nothing will change that." I was hurt and angry and of course since I didn't really matter to him I wasn't going to listen to anything he said.

With Inuyasha distracted by Yura and her hair again I went back to trying to get the shed opened; after a few more minutes of sorting through the hair ball, a smile came to my lips when I noticed that I was actually tangling it like Yura said, I felt something hard and thought it was the shed door.

However when I pulled on the object it came loose and I realized it wasn't what I thought it was; my curiosity got the best of me and I needed to know what I grabbed… sometimes though I wish I wasn't so nosey. Pulling the object free from the hair I screamed and fell back on my butt… I was not expecting a skull to be what I grabbed.

"What the hell!?"

Looking at the skull I noticed that luckily there wasn't any flesh still present so that told me it was pretty old but what freaked me out more was some of the hair that was covering this shed was attached to it… and there was more. Just sitting there staring at this skull I watched as it began to slowly slide down the wall of hair but as it made its way down several more skulls came forward from within the hairball.

"It's a nest, how many skulls are in there?" I watched as more and more skulls came forth from the pile and then something odd appeared, a skull completely blood red came to the center of the massive pile. I thought it odd because skulls were normally not red nor did they have strains of hair coming from them.

"What are you doing, get away from that!" Yura was in a panic now which told me this particular skull was important to her in some way.

"What the hell are you doing you stupid wench I told you to get away!" Inuyasha was furious that I didn't listen to him but that's nothing new nor was I going to start now that I was on to something.

Looking at the strains of hair I followed their path and saw that they were attached to Yura as well. "She's a puppet, whoever the real demon is is controlling her." Coming to this discovery I quickly jumped up and ran over to grab one of the sharp rocks I saw earlier. "If I can break the skull and cut the hair maybe Yura will stop too." It was only a theory but I had to try.

"You stupid girl! I'll kill you!" Yura's threat didn't deter me from my goal as I grabbed the red skull and pulled it away from the tangled mess; I felt it pulsing like a heart, which grossed me out at first, but I pushed that aside and slammed the rock against the top. "No stop! Don't do that!"

Into my second swing down I felt threads wrap around my wrist halting my movements but only for a few seconds; Inuyasha appeared at my side again and severed Yura's hold over me.

"I told you to get out of here wench and you disobeyed me, do you want to die?"

"Well no of course not but you see I think I know how to stop her," I held up the skull to show him, "I think this is what is controlling her… if we just-."

"Look just do whatever you plan on doing quickly woman… we haven't got much time." I was confused by his words but then I noticed with all the jumping around Inuyasha had reopened his stab wound and was bleeding a lot more now.

Inuyasha went back to dealing with Yura and I focused again on the skull; there was already a nice size crack and just two more swings I had it shattered into pieces. But I thought breaking it would stop Yura but looking over my shoulder and seeing her still fighting Inuyasha told me otherwise.

I noticed the pulsing hadn't stopped either but now I realized whatever was giving off these weird vibes was actually inside the skull. Carefully putting my hand inside, trying not to cut myself; I felt an object inside and pulled it out.

"It's a… comb?" You have got to be kidding me, this whole time we were actually fighting a hair brush, I know Inuyasha said demons are not what they appear but this was ridiculous.

"Get your disgusting hands off that!" Somehow in her rage Yura got passed Inuyasha and was racing toward me again.

"Woman, destroy the damn thing now!"

I didn't need to be told twice about this and quickly put the comb on the stone walk way and slammed the rock down on it breaking it in two. The pulsing immediately stopped followed by a distressed scream from Yura; she was only a few feet away when she burst into dust, which would have been pleasing to watch had she not been intending to kill me a second ago.

With Yura dead all the hair that was lying about the shrine suddenly burst into a weird purple flame and burned away as if nothing was there in the first place… even all the skulls disappeared too which was the last straw for me.

"What the hell was all that about!?"

* * *

><p><strong>Note: I'm back... I don't really want to get into why it took so long to get this story update because I already have a headache and don't feel like explaining it... so just be happy that I'm back!<strong>

**Thanks to:  
><strong>DragonHeart64  
>HopelessRomantic183<br>StarTrail  
>Inuyasha-loves-Hanyou-Kagome<br>corincat331  
>Rayne The Hanyou<br>**For reviewing... again sorry for the really late update**


End file.
